


Starfall

by Nightmare Senshi (Saraphin)



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Desna1, F/M, Gen, M/M, Other, Pradeshverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-08 09:06:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17383688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saraphin/pseuds/Nightmare%20Senshi
Summary: It started with a Blood Moon, the first after three hundred years. Celestial Mages either disappeared or their keys did.The mages of Earth Land have no clue what is going on, and the Displaced Mages are dealing with in-fighting, raw emotions and not knowing what is going on themselves.Pradesh Lot Belongs to Desna1. I own...Xavier and some concepts of Spirits.Updates...when they come. Muses are plotting around a lot of stories and I just let them work on what they want to work on.





	1. Bad Moon Rising

It had started at the blood moon in the fall. The Academe Celestine had called for a summit and Lucy had hissed at her team like a feral animal when they said they were coming with her. That had made them all balk and look at her with wide eyes before she had gotten on Pegasus and took off.

 

Strangely enough...when Team natsu had gone to crash at Lucy’s place the next day it was cleaned out. Completely cleaned out. Sting and Rogue had reached out, Yukino wide eyed because her keys had just vanished in the middle of the night, with only a crystal with a star left in their place and all the two had smelled was stardust, like they’d come to associate with Celestial Magic.

 

Wards at White Sea had gone off in their own Celestial Mage’s apartment and when they’d gone to check it out...it was cleaned out as well. Creating a Stir and the start of a search. They’d tried to contact the Academe, but nothing would get through...and when they sent someone...it was surrounded by a barrier that dropped days later, leaving the dean to explain that there was no recollection from when the mages had come until that moment.

 

The list of people missing was very few, including one man from Iceberg that held a set of keys that looked to be made out of diamonds...and if the current and very sudden fight of warqueens going on in Joya was to be any indication: warqueen Sydelle was missing as well, her personal effects half missing.

 

~)~))~)~)~

 

Lucy looked at the three other people that were with her and felt a bit of wariness as she looked at the only other woman in the group. She half reminded her of Ezra, but there was a firm brutality in her and she watched the two men like they were meat.

 

She’d met Hestor on a few trips to Bosco and the two had often exchanged books and eventually keys as she found ones for sets that he had and he found ones that he thought would benefit her. It was a strange friendship, but it worked well for the two of them.

 

The other man, Xavier, she knew from a few brief encounters and they were all in a cabin  that was surrounded by snow and ice as far as the eye could see. Lucy pursed her lips, “....I’d say this is another take over the world with celestial magic scheme…”

 

Hestor snorted from where he was making food, the man was apparently the only one among them that actually enjoyed cooking normal food, “if it were, we wouldn’t be in a cabin that is well stocked...and we would have been checked on in the last few weeks by gloating captors.”

 

Sydelle rolled her eyes as she stood at a window, “there is nothing out there but ice and snow. Ursa Major has gone out as far as she can without getting too far.”

 

“Shiva has gone looking, he will confirm that.” Xavier said, brushing his thick chestnut hair back, “there are no dangers out there…I’d wager the biggest one is the one in here with us.” He stared pointedly at Sydelle.

 

The woman curled her lip at the man, “I will make you come to heel.”

 

Lucy sighed as she sat and wrapped the blanket around her more. This was a common argument in the last week. The woman, a joyan, saw the two males as less than her and was determined to ‘break them to her will’. Lucy often had to step in, especially when the first time Hestor’s eyes had started to glow as his anger had risen. “Enough. We’re all in this together, as equals.”

 

“You claim yourself equal with a man?” Sydelle sneered slightly, “you have so much power and you debase yourse-”

 

“Enough,” Hestor said firmly as he put the stew on the table, “we’ve gone through this argument more times than I care to listen to. Our first priority is to figure out why we’re here. Why we were brought here and how to get home.” he snorted, “and none of our spirits are being helpful.”

 

“You dare-”

 

Hestor let out a snarl and magic swirled a large black wolf that seemed to suck the light from around it with glowing green eyes sliding out of the shadows, “I do because i’m sick of this pointlessness.” his steel blue eyes narrowed as he let out another low growl, “I want to go home. I want to be where it’s warm, I want to see my lover again..and I want to get away from **you.** ”

 

Sydelle sneered at the man as the four sat down, “you’ve got part of the rainbow bridge at least.”

 

“Yes, well, if I had Yggdrasil, the three of us would be gone and your sexist ass would be frozen and starving,” Hestor snarled as he sat down to eat.

 

Xavier let out a faint sigh, “let’s just eat…”

 

Lucy had worked with Xavier a few times, but rarely. The man was the son of a tribal chieftain and his ability as not just a Celestial Summoner, but as a Star Reader had been invaluable enough to his tribe that they didn’t want to let him leave often. She slowly ate, smiling at the man in thanks.His chestnut hair and soft brown eyes were always a comfort, and any time she was out that way, she stopped in...if only because the man was a good cuddler. He was one of the first few that she’d actually opened up to about Tartaros and what had happened.

 

He’d then told her stories passed down about people who had born the Star dress magic she had now, surmising that they only had to wait for the key to re-fall from the sky for her to reclaim it.

  
  
  


~)~)~)~)~

  
  


Being woken up in the middle of the night hadn’t been pleasant, having Sydelle and Hestor fighting and the man having bruises around his neck as if he’d been being choked wasn’t funny.  The woman had been screaming like a banshee...apparently over a mumbled name in his sleep.

 

Lucy slowly sipped from a cup of coffee, “is it evil if he beats her and we leave her out there to freeze?”

 

Xavier watched the battle, Hestor shifting and moving about with an odd ease on the icy ground, and wearing not much at all. The man seemed to not feel the cold and the spirit he had out was well suited to the environment, “...I’m unsure…” he snorted, “but I’m fairly certain it is...perhaps we can just...chain her up in a closet, feed her, make sure she’s tended to?”

 

“Fuck, didn’t you say you had just gotten out of the bathroom?” Lucy ran a hand down her face.

 

Xavier nodded, “I did. Hestor moaned ‘kaleb’ as he arched in his sleep and she woke up from a dead sleep and attacked him.”

 

Lucy’s eyebrow slowly arched, “...if that’s the lover he’s wanting to get back to...I can see why he’s grumpy.”

 

The two laughed and then started as Hestor landed on the porch and snarled as Fenrir leapt out of a shadow at the woman, blind siding her and sending her skidding across the ice. They watched the two sided fight and then opened the door when Hestor walked in, dragging the woman by her hair.

 

“Welcome back?”  
  
Hestor sneered, “she thinks she owns **my One**?!”

 

“Oh, snap…”

 

Xavier’s brows shot up and he let out a whistle, “well there’s a fight she’ll never win.” he moved to take some magic cancelling cuffs and put them on the woman before tying her arms behind her and putting her back into her bed, “I assume we’ll be able to sleep now?”

 

Hestor let out a snarl and then moved to the couch by the fireplace. He made sure the fire was stoked and then curled back up under his blanket.

 

“I shall call him grouchy, for he is cuddly and grouchy, I shall take him home and he shall be mine,“ Lucy giggled as she moved to rinse her mug out.

 

“...it’s Prickly. Get it right,” Came the muffled and tired voice from the couch.

 

Lucy couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up her throat before she moved towards one of the bedrooms. She didn’t get why the man wasn’t sleeping in one of the four, but she supposed he had a reason.

 

~)~)~)~))~~

  


Hestor listened to the other two as they settled in for sleep again and then rolled onto his back.  He let out a soft sigh as he lay there and looked up. He could have taken one of the rooms, but...he couldn’t deal with that much space. He sighed as he put his arm behind his head and hissed in annoyance.

 

The relationship he had with kaleb was so very new, barely a week before they’d been ripped to wherever they were from the academe. It had taken so very many years to even get to that point and he still cursed Kalperdan up and down for that com call that had pulled him away that night. He knew he had to go, Celestial Happenings were something he had to look in to. Blood Moons were rare, once every few hundred years and it always heralded something bad happening. His heart had a longing for the strong arms of the mindbender and he hissed about something always coming up.

 

Keys, Demons, Peregrande, Joya, Nut-case Princesses. He’d like to get a damn break, just once now that he’d let the man in. He let out a small sigh as he sat up and then moved to the kitchen. He wasn’t getting any more than the few hours sleep he’d already gotten, he could tell. He started to go through the cupboards and sighed as he eventually slumped over and put his head in his hands.

 

Another thing that bothered him was that The Brothers of Ma’at and the Sisters of Ammit had not spoken to him, nor answered his call once since they’d come to this icy wasteland. Lucy had shifted uncomfortably quite a few times as it seemed her Zodiac spirits didn’t want to answer her call either. Xavier’s keys seemed to work, and his own Bifrost set did, but that left Lucy with only a few keys at her disposal….and they were all feeling the strain.

 

He started when he heard keys landing on the counter and his head snapped to the side. He took the female spirit in for a moment and arched an eyebrow, “Modgud…”

 

The blue toned woman shrugged as she nodded to the keys on the counter. He recognized the mythril and few rose gold keys, “she lost. They’re yours.”

 

“It was hardly an official duel,” Hestor sighed as he started to make a fresh pot of coffee and searched for Honey. “And why in the hell is there no honey?!”

 

The female spirit watched him in almost amusement, “she attacked you, you beat her. Works for me, yes?” she tilted her head, “...have you ever thought you have an addiction to Honey?”

 

Steel blue eyes looked at the spirit and he slowly arched an eyebrow, “..no.”

 

“Nothing at all to do with a certai-”

 

“Modgud,” His voice was firm as he stared hard at the spirit.

 

She held her hands up in deference, grinning broadly, “I’ll see if I can smuggle some honey for you.” the female spirit kissed his cheek, “this is for the best, you’ll see.”

 

Hestor narrowed his eyes, “what do you know, Modgud?”

 

The female spirit cringed, realizing she’d said too much, “nothing.”

 

The celestial summoner let out a huff as she disappeared, leaving a pair of frosted over footprints in her wake that would soon go away. He grumbled a bit and huffed as he started to go through the cupboards again. The spirits knew something, he was out of honey...and this place had  no apples. All In All: he hated the entire situation.

 

~)~)~)~)

  


“You look like shit.”

 

The deep voice made Hestor sigh as he turned to look at the other male celestial mage, “and you look too rested.”

 

Xavier shrugged as he came out, “Indeed. We should get your neck looked at.”

 

“We should find a way off this block of ice,” Hestor spat back.

 

Xavier smiled faintly, “we will, we’ll all get back.”

 

“No three of us are going back,” Hestor hissed, “That woman can rot for all I care.”

 

“You have an issue,” Xavier watched the other man as he leaned against the counter, waiting for the coffee to brew.

 

Hestor turned a dark look on the taller Iceburg man and slowly arched an eyebrow. His voice was laced with sarcasm, “why no, why would I have an issue with a woman that tried to kill me when i finally managed to get to sleep?”

 

Xavier stared at the man for a long moment, “right, you natively speak sarcasm, don’t you?” at the dark look he got the man shook his head, “just...relax. It will be fine.”

 

Hestor continue to give the other male a dark look, “I’m going to end you all.”

 

“No you won’t,” Xavier smirked as he grabbed a mug and filled it before darting out of the man’s arm range. He grabbed his heavy cloak and slipped outside, calling over his shoulders, “The stars say you’re a good man.”

 

Hestor let out a growl mixed with a snort and then slumped as he went back to his thoughts. Sometimes, dealing with the last few that held his magic were a pain in the ass. They all had...something extra to them. Lucy had the stardress and was blessed with water magic, Xavier could read the stars for the future or insight, Sydelle he didn’t care about past the fact that he wanted to rip her throat out.

 

He slowly drew a hand down his face and then shook his head. He needed to get home. The smell of apples hit his nose and he half turned, groaning when he saw Loki. The spirit was generally as snarky as he was, but the moldavite eyes always held something in them that was...strangely caring. “Stop that.”

 

Loki let out a faint sigh as he held out a basket “apples and honey, from Modgud.” he watched the summoner for a long moment, “you’ll get out of here…”

 

“What do you know, trickster?”

 

The spirit slowly ran his hands through his hair, “Much. Find the key here. Hopefully….” he trailed off, looking thoughtfully, “you will find what you need to get back before Ragna-”

 

Hestor grabbed the spirit, shaking him, “What is going on with Earth Land?!”

 

“Earth land? Or a Mind-” Loki let out a sound as the celestial mage shook him again and crossed his eyes, “Okay. Alright! Surtr has set his eyes on Earthland.”

 

Hestor’s eye twitched as he stood there, letting out a sound of frustration as he shook the spirit again. Loki let his head fall back, deciding to give the summoner a few moments of panic. After five minutes of being shaken, he took the other’s wrists, “eat your apples, dip them in honey. Start finding keys to get you all back to Earth Land.”

 

“We have an archangel on Earth land, Loki,” He gave the spirit a cross look, but actually moved to cut up one of the apples, letting out a low hum at the crisp smell as he ate each slice as he cut it, “Surtr shouldn’t be an issue for him.”

 

Loki smirked a bit, “you’ll need three to take him on.”

 

Hestor scowled, “There aren’t three. We have one.” he watched the dancing green eyes and narrowed his steel blue ones, “Loki…”

 

The dark haired spirit grinned as he brought a finger up to his lips in a ‘shh’ motion and winked before disappearing in a swirl of multicolored sparkles.

 

Hestor hated that spirit some days, other days? Not so much. Currently it was a ‘hate day’. He knew it wasn’t something he had to dwell on too much on, because there was information there that he’d given the Celestial Summoner, Hestor just had to piece it together. He started as the jar of cinnamon sticks clattered off the spice rack and arched an eyebrow as he moved to pick up the now cracked jar, “...odd.”

 

~)~))~)~~

  
  


“Well?” Lucy said as she sat on a chair, watching the fire in the fireplace.

 

Hestor let out a low hum, “we’re going to need to go, one of my spirits said there is a key here...somewhere that will get us off this block of ice.”

 

Xavier arched an eyebrow “so you want to go out in this?”

 

“Yes, Modgud gives me a modicum of protection against the cold,” Hestor pursed his lips, “I will get supplies for a few days and leave with her...I am sure the two of you will be able to hold your own for a few days...you two can semi-cook.”

 

Lucy snorted in humor as she sipped her coffee, her eyes half closing, “Yes, yes, Prickly shall go on a great journey.”

 

Hestor rolled his eyes as he sat there, “yes, well...we need off this wasteland and that’s the only lead we have.” he wasn’t about to talk about what Loki hinted at.

  


~)~)~)~

 

“Kaleb,” Farron watched his brother pace, “we’ll find them.”

 

The Mindbender pursed his lips as he looked at his brother, “we’ve sent search parties out, looking for any clue and Dean Kalperdan has...said all he knows is that the fact that the moon is still blood red every night is a bad omen, Fare…They can’t connect with their spirits..at least the keys that haven’t gone missing...”

 

The eldest pradesh boy watched the mindbender for a few moments, “we all know, Kaleb...and they’re looking into it. You reached out to Fairy Tail, right? They’ve got a Celestial Mage…”

 

Kaleb sighed as he slumped into the bay window seat, sighing at the light and lingering scent of Sea Sage and let it calm his mind a bit, “Marakov said he would get back to me...there was some sort of emergency, one of their mages went missing but he wouldn’t say wh…” the blond trailed off, brow furrowed.

 

Farron arched an eyebrow, “I don’t need to have mind magic to know where your thoughts are going...you think celestial Mages have gone missing.”

 

“I thought we were...not at the point of something like this happening again...the Seis were disbanded, Zeref defeated, Acnologia defeated…”

 

“Joya is going through some sort of internal war,” Farron said as he leaned against Kaleb’s desk, watching the man, “and Magnus called earlier today...asked for us to keep an eye out for his son: Xavier.”

 

“We’ll find Prickly,” Vander said as he walked into the office, “guildhall isn’t the same without his snark...and we all feel it.” he looked at his brothers, “another group is going out towards the south and we got clearance to search through Stella, the Xing family’s going to a bit nutty, or rather the Lady Li is. Her brother said that she’d been in some sort of Fugue for a few days, mumbling almost incoherently about fire and destruction.”

 

Kaleb’s lips drew into a thin line, “isn’t that woman some sort of Celestial Mage?”

 

Vander nodded, “she feels the ebb and flow of Celestial Magic...she goes to the Academe once a year, identifying keys that the researchers can’t….and implying who would work best with them.” he grinned, “She’s like the sorting hat of Celestial Mages. I wonder what the houses would be called….”

 

Farron scowled, “...that’s it. No more Harry Potter books for you.”

 

“Aww, c’mon, they’re good books,” Vander grinned, “And Kalperdan is so like Dumbledore…”

  
  
  



	2. Ice and Blood

Hestor sighed as he tucked his pants into the heavy furlined boots and then wrapped the cloak around his shoulders. Everything he’d need was in requip space, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  
  
Lucy pursed her lips as she watched him wrap a scarf around his face and pull the hood up, “we could all come..”

 

“I don’t wish to have the snake out and about,” He looked at Lucy for a moment, “and I can make better time on my own.” his lips quirked beneath the scarf, but it bled into his voice, “you also can’t walk for shit on ice.”

 

Lucy let out an indignant sound and then looked away, “Fine, we’ll stay here and keep things warm…” she paused, “are you sure you’ve got enough?”

 

Hestor chuckled softly, “i’ll be fine. I’ve enough rations.” he shook his head, “worry less about me and more about yourselves.”

 

Xavier nodded slightly, “if you are not back in a week…”

 

Hestor looked at the man, “if I’m not back in a week, assume the worst.”

 

“You’ll be back before then,” Lucy said, conviction in her tone.

 

A silver brow arched as he looked at the woman and shook his head, with a last deep breath, he slipped out into the frozen wasteland. He didn’t get far before calling on three spirits and walking quietly as Canis Major slowly padded ahead of him while Modgud walked on one side with the massive Fenrir on his other.

 

Lucy bit her lip as she watched the Boscan go, “...he **will** be fine, right?”

 

Xavier smiled softly, “he’ll be fine. He’s resourceful.” The man turned “come along, let’s get something warm to drink and see if we can find something to do to pass the time.”

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

“Look, I’m just saying,” Natsu said, arms crossed as he stood to the side of the massive room, “yeah, you’ve lost your celestial mage, we lost our guild’s light.”

 

The meeting had been placed in Blue Pegasus, simply because it better fit with having the Boscans there. Master Bob scowled at Natsu but his eyes went wide as Yukino, sweet, docile Yukino smacked Natsu over the head.

 

“Stop that!” She scowled at him, “this is a crisis, don’t even think that one titled celestial mage is worth more than another!”

 

Natsu’s eyes narrowed a bit and he let out a low growl, but said nothing. The Dragon Slayer hadn’t claimed the woman as kin or mate, yet had an odd possessiveness to him when it came to Lucy.

 

“Yuki’s right,” Sting said as he watched the fire user, “her keys are gone...we’re getting reports that...celestial keys aren’t working...other celestial based magic isn’t working...right…something huge is going on.”

 

It took all of Kaleb’s control, and the lacrama shining brightly on the choker he wore showed that, to not lash out at the fire dragon slayer. He slowly took a breath, “The Holy Warriors from Bellum have reported that their magic is not working properly either. This is not isolated to just a few people, or mage guilds.” He wanted so badly to not be there, or he’d wished he’d gone with Hestor, but the other had assured him it would only be a few days at most. Now it had been a month and it seemed like magic was being affected more and more.

 

Hibiki spoke softly, “latest reports...show climate changes. Iceberg having record highs...above freezing...at night.”

 

That gave everyone pause as they looked at the archive mage. Kaleb’s lips draw into a thin line, “and the moon continues to stay red.” the man turned back to Yukino, “what did you mean by Titled Celestial mage?”

 

The woman let out a faint sigh “I received a message through Corvus, I’m allowed to only talk about the subject one time...I’d suggest...that you make sure everyone you want to know or talk about it with is here...you won’t be able to pass on or discuss the knowledge with anyone that’s not present...and no one else will...understand it if you talk about it.”

 

Kaleb frowned a bit, “give us a few days to decide who.”

Natsu scowled, “I want to know **now**.”

 

“You can be a petulant lizard all you want,” Kaleb leveled a firm and dark look on Natsu, “...but I will not have someone left out of this conversation that will benefit from it.”

 

~)~))~)~)~

  


Hestor sighed as they walked, the chill wasn’t bad thanks to Modgud, but it was still cold. He let out a mumble, “...we’ve been walking for hours…” in fact, the light was strangely starting to go away and he had no idea why. He’d left during the ‘morning’ and it couldn’t have been more than eight hours...and the light didn’t fade at the cabin that fast.

 

He saw a cavern and pointed, “I need to rest, there looks good.” the group eventually made it to the caverns and his nose curled as night seemed to settle in. he frowned as he stood there, “that can’t be good…”

 

“Don’t worry, it will be fine,” Modgud smiled faintly and watched as Fenrir settled down on the cavern floor, “sit and curl up. We’ll watch the skies, see if it lightens up again but you rest in the meantime.”

 

Hestor sighed as he sat down, leaning back against the large wolf with a low hum. The warmth that settled through his clothing made him relax and he was soon Lulled to sleep.

 

_“There are only a few who would be in this environ.”_

 

Modgud looked at the wolf, “I know...Skadi is the only ice giant left out of the keys….and Hel’s key was swapped out for Idunn’s a hundred years ago.” she chuckled faintly.

 

_“He’ll be fine, stop babbling, it’s not like you to worry.”_

 

Modgud sighed and ran a hand through her hair, mumbling, “I do worry…”

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

  


The three spirits let the summoner rest a few hours before getting him up and starting their journey again. They well knew that the cold would get to him, but this had to be done. They did not agree to this quest, but they also were not in charge of the Celestial summoners. They could only run along with what the grand design had in mind.

 

The cycle was repeated for three days before an arrow slammed into the ground and Hestor was rolling away from it, “fuck.”

 

He watched as spikes of ice started to form and let out a low growl as he moved to jump onto one of the higher shelves of icy rock. He barely shifted, seeing the white fur and then calling out to Fenrir.

  


The black wolf leapt without thinking, snarling, slamming away the two with a massive tackle. The spirit rose to his paws and then slowly stalked towards the summoner, letting out a snarl that rumbled in his chest as he stood over the mage.

 

Hestor took a deep breath, slowly sitting up and crouching in between the massive wolf’s front legs. He felt a shiver run up his spine as he looked around and licked his lips absently. He watched the wolves, eyes narrowing as he felt the same magic from them as he did a key and realized it was most likely some sort of trial. He pat the underside of Fenrir's chest as he crouched, watching the white wolves snarl and saw a flash of metal beneath their tongues. ‘Fuck my life’ was the only thought that came to mind, because he was fairly certain he was going to get bitten, badly if he actually picked the wrong one.

 

He took a breath, “go left.” The mage dove to the right, rolling under a diving wolf even as Fenrir took out another one of them and he continued to search, trying to find the right signature. This was something he’d come to realize: The Bifrost keys were tricky in how you got them.

 

Fenrir had actually been the most difficult and he could barely recall much of it. Cristoff had been the one he’d stumbled into in a state of near death and bleeding out. That had been two months ago, and that was when he and Kaleb had started their relationship as more than Master and mage. Light touches, barely there brushes against shoulders. It had set every nerve in his body on fire and the wolf seemed to laugh each time it had happened.

 

Cristoff had just been shocked that he was still alive with his throat torn out as it had been. He truly wasn’t sure how he survived, but he had recalled the wolf pacing and Kaleb and his parents bound. After the fact, he knew it was an illusion, but at the time, he’d been torn apart to ‘save’ them and he’d done so without a second thought, even as his throat had been ripped open. He shuddered at the hazy memory and then whipped his body around, grabbing one of the wolves by the pelt, yanking and pulling himself up and over it.

 

Focus. He  needed to focus, not think on the past. The now mattered. If the now was not dealt with there would be no getting back to Earth Land; no getting back to his family, to his childhood home, to his childhood friends, to White Sea, to the bay window he napped in, to Kaleb; mostly the last two. He barely caught it in the swirl of white and blue, but there was a different set of eyes; gritting his teeth, Hestor let out a growl and then leapt off the wolf after slamming a dagger into its head, ignoring that it turned into snow and reformed out of the way.

 

His mind went over plans, but the wolves were moving far too fast for him to get in quickly and grab the key, so he went with plan C, since A and B were completely useless. His voice rose as he started on a spell. He didn’t know the exact words, but chains made out of ice sprung up, whirling in the air before starting to restrain the wolf he wanted. He could hear Fenrir going after the others and when the snarling, oddly eye colored wolf was mostly restrained, he walked to it, snarling out something that was almost feral before putting his hand into the mouth, hand diving beneath the tongue.

 

He grunted as the jaws snapped down, blood starting to trickle down beneath his gear as the fangs tore into his hand and wrist, but he wrenched his fingers around the key and his other hand came up, dagger appearing again before slamming it down into the head of the wolf. This time he saw it turn into snow and leave the key.

 

There was a soft clapping and a woman that he would almost call an ice maiden appeared, wrapped in warm clothing with a pelt made into a hood and cloak, “a marvelous fight. Using violence like that shows you have the heart of a hunter, somewhere in that cold chest.”

 

“I just...want to go home...I’ll kill anything in my way to get back to him,” He stared at the spirit.

 

“Skadi,” the woman smiled, “a pleasure to meet you…”

 

“How do we get off this rock?”

 

“The answer was there all along,” the woman looked at him in amusement, “well, boy?”

 

Hestor drew himself up and stared the spirit down, shimmering key held out, “Key of the Bifrost, Close the passage to Nifelheim!” The man braced himself, even as he felt the power start to curl and felt Fenrir behind him, a pained scream tearing through him as everything went black around him and he sunk into the warmth of the black wolf.

  


~)~)~))~

 

Kaleb suddenly jolted up when he felt Hestor, in the middle of a meeting, and the action had everyone starting. He took deep breaths as his magic reached out, regardless of who was around.

 

Laxus let out a choked sound at the power that came off the mindbender, “Kaleb! Pull it back!”

 

It was the strained voice that had the blond yanking his power down and then slowly sinking into his chair. He had touched the mage’s mind, feeling an odd serenity...and icy, inky blackness. It wasn’t a deadly one, no, this had been like when he’d felt Fenrir and Modgud curl around the man’s soul, only much colder.

 

“Sorry…” The mindbender slumped as the sensation went away, “I felt Hestor, briefly.”

 

Vander narrowed his eyes slightly, “Prickly okay?”

 

Kaleb gave a small nod, “I think he found another of the Bifrost. It was a sensation similar to when he’d found the last few keys of the set.”

 

Vander let out a low hum and crossed his arms. The Bifrost keys were, frankly, frightening when he thought about it. The spirits were hard on their celestial mage, driving him to a brink of exhaustion and often making him pass out in the training yard back at White Sea to show him something. He recalled Modgud pushing him to get ‘used to’ her cold. Cris had never seen such a chill in a person that wasn’t dead and the lack of frostbite had been frightening, Hestor had damn near been frozen fully through, yet still lived in that state.

 

Vander had seen the man’s soul only a few times when he’d had to take him through the voids. The keys that the man had and whatever family trait he had made it so that the magic curled around the man’s golden soul in a kaleidoscope of colors that was like a shimmering rainbow; or the bifrost keys.  The Mage wasn’t aware of it and he knew Lucy’s soul didn’t do it her soul just glowed warmer with each spirit she contracted according to Bickslow, so it had to be something with the Xing family, whom he knew were almost steeped in the magic in a way that made them shrewd and guarded.

 

He’d tried to ask what was so special about this nine key set and Hestor had stared at him icily before sighing and simply saying that they connected not just to spirits, but places. He and Beck had been there when he’d found Loki’s key and would agree with that statement. The bifrost keys connected to places and spirits and took the aspiring contractor to another plane or the spirit to earth land creating a small pocket of their ‘home’, depending on the spirit’s whim at the time, to test the mage. The shadowquip had no doubt that many had tried and failed, especially given the almost tired and detached look that had been on the dark haired spirit’s face. He’d watched as darkness had swirled around them, Hestor’s eyes lighting up and the Spirit had held the mage’s head in his hands, making the man arch backwards and whispered in his ear.

 

Vander had not been able to hear the conversation, despite standing right there, nor had he heard what the celestial mage had said in return. His body had convulsed a few times before he had heard a low whimper and a key appeared in his hands. The Spirit had, strangely enough, cradled the prickly man like Arman had held him and his brothers as children when they needed comfort, and the standoffish man had accepted it.

 

If Hestor was finding more keys like that...the brothers knew that he could be anywhere in the cosmos...and hopefully with the two lost Celestial Mages that they were worrying about.

  
  
  
  



	3. Island Paradise

Hestor gasped as he sat straight up, pain lancing through him. He felt two small hands against his chest and lashed out before his eyes even focused. He let out a snarl as his hand was grabbed and struggled.

 

“Hestor!” The deep voice wasn’t one he wanted to hear, but it cut through the daze of suddenly waking up and he looked into the light brown eyes of Xavier before slumping, “better now?”

 

Hestor nodded as he looked at his wrist, “....this was nearly gnawed off…”

 

Lucy rolled her eyes, “it was not, but it is fully and completely healed by Ankaa.” she sat there, watching him and then smiled, “whatever you did, it dumped us into a new cabin.”

 

“Please tell me she was left…” Hestor’s nose curled.

 

Xavier chuckled softly, “no such luck.”

 

The silver haired male sat there then mumbled, “stars, why?” he slowly climbed to his feet and his nose caught the smell of ocean water before he walked to a window and looked out, “...please tell me we’re not on an island.”

 

As he turned, both of the mages were looking away, Xavier’s innocent face not as convincing as Lucy’s, but neither was that promising either. Hestor ran a hand down his face and huffed, “great. I’m going outside.”

 

He walked out the front door and took a deep breath of the air. It was sea water and he stripped off his clothes, leaving them on the porch before walking towards the water in nothing but his briefs. He took a breath as he got to the edge of the water and smiled as he waded out. The others would probably find the water freezing, but it wasn’t bad to him. He took a few breaths and then dove down, checking out the world beneath the water.

 

The prickly man smiled at the sea life and dove down further, letting himself get lost until he needed air and was kicking back to the surface. When he broke it, he took deep breaths of air and just relaxed, a small serene smile on his lips. The cool water and tropical air brought a calmness...and old memories to the front of his mind. He was glad for his childhood to a point and he looked up at the sky, murmuring, “I’ll come back to you. I promise and you can cut my hair to whatever length you wish...”

 

It had only been around a month - that he was awake for - but he ached and wanted to be back home, in Kaleb’s arms, hissing, spitting and keeping people away with a sharp tongue...so that he could cuddle.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb sighed as he sat, watching the sunset in the bay window in his office. Two months and the smell of the Celestial Mage was all but gone. He hadn’t moved the book that Hestor had been reading before he’d left, opening it and thumbing through it but he hadn’t lifted it from where it had been, he refused to. The mindbender was almost afraid that if he moved the book, the celestial mage wouldn’t come back. He’d gone to the man’s apartment a few times, but the scent of the man had faded within weeks, leaving empty rooms, barren walls and an aching heart.

 

He sighed as he stood to go look through more of the reports. Peregrande had been...decimated by creatures that looked like molten rock and Seven had volcanos popping up, as did Iceberg. People were evacuating and those that weren’t geologically effected currently were taking the refugees in. Bellum and Stella had been holding their own, but in different ways. Bellum’s Holy Warriors and armies were raging across the countryside, holding their own against invaders and they were sending the Arbiter to fill the council of mages that were trying to get more mages working to help those in need to discuss what strategies worked against the creatures.

 

Stella...had a strange an impenetrable shield that, if kaleb was honest, was much like the one that had appeared around the Academe. They had a few ways of getting information in and out and it became a place to send information to be stored securely.  He sighed softly as he sat there and then rubbed his face. Nothing made sense, the information about titled celestial mages made him wary. Three of them, The Starbringer (or Star Maiden, depending on translation), The StarSeer and the StarBlade. The first two were always easy to pick, the last it was always something of a toss up and only one of the candidates for the Starblade was ever left living.

 

It took him hours to sort everything before he looked at the bay window, and moved to relax back there, letting the fading scent help lull him into sleep. The soft words that slid over his mind as he fell fully to sleep brought a small smile to his lips, _“I’ll come back to you. I promise and you can cut my hair to whatever length you wish...”_

  


~)~)~)~))~~

 

Hestor tied his hair back, it was now down well past his shoulder blades. They’d not wanted for food in their stay; between the fruits and vegetables on the island and the sea food he could catch in the water, they ate very well. Even Sydelle, though Hestor still said they should let her starve. For three months they had searched, trying to find a way off the island, but with no other land in sight, they were loathe to leave it, lest they actually die on the open water.

 

He snorted as he heard laughter and saw Lucy making a sandcastle near the shore and he swam towards her, hauling the net behind him. He smirked as he called out, “acting your age?”

 

Lucy snorted, “no, acting yours.”

 

The three mages had grown an unlikely friendship in the months, simply based at first on survival, then because of their common ground. Being able to openly talk about their magic was such a rare thing that they discussed theories, ideas, stories. Sydelle had spoken from time to time, but she was still very much not allowed much. She’d attacked him when she seemed to be sorry, at least to Lucy. Xavier said that forgiveness was a good path.

 

That had been two weeks ago, and the fight had again spilled outside the cabin and it had taken both Lucy and Xavier to pull him off the woman as he held her head under the water. She wasn’t...quite the same woman any more, not after Lucy got her breathing again. She had a healthy dose of fear and was kept restrained.

 

Hestor scoffed, “you need to get inside, you’re turning pink.” he waded out of the water, hauling the net of muscles with him.

 

“You’re getting a tan,” Lucy grinned, “I mean...hot damn, put you on a Lacrama Beach Show, it’ll get all the ratings. you'll even look actually Boscan soon enough!”

 

Steel blue eyes rolled as he moved towards the cabin, “is the pot of water ready?”

 

“Mm,” Lucy nodded as she stood, a starfish going on the top of the castle before she followed after the silver haired man.

 

Both looked over their shoulders as water seemed to churn a bit in the distance and they saw storm clouds on the horizon. Hestor pursed his lips, “let’s get things closed up. We’ll go get fruit after we eat so that we have food to wait out the storm.”

 

~)~)~)~)~)~))~

 

It was after the four day storm that they felt the key. It was moving, far away and moving. They still weren’t sure they could actually make it so that they could travel far enough to get to it. They would have to wait it out.

 

They continued on as they were, living a strange life that was somewhere between a vacation and an exercise in survival. Xavier stayed mostly on “sydelle duty”, which ranged from making sure the woman ate, bathed and got sunlight from time to time.

 

They’d taught Lucy about plants, what was edible, what to avoid and when Hestor had found out she could swim and channel Aquarius’ power, even there, he made her join him in the water. The best part about that was that she could create a sphere in the water with air, so they were able to stay down longer, search deeper and just a bit further. He spent time, talking about the aquatic lifeforms beneath the water and teaching her about the ecology of the ocean twice a week.

 

Every week, the key got a little closer, they could feel it just a little more.they kept themselves waiting, aware, but they continued surviving. They found a way to make a sort of moonshine out of fruit and as they kept track of the days, they went against the calendar they knew.

 

They’d been on the island nearly seven months, deciding to celebrate christmas with some blue rock lobsters and then New Years with the moonshine and some clams.

 

“Hes?” Lucy looked at the silver haired man, frowning, “you...alright?”

 

Hestor sighed as he sipped from his glass, “no. it’s new years.” his voice was soft and he was glad that Sydelle was locked and tied up in her room. He had no need for her mouth and taunts. “I miss him...I miss him so much.”

 

Lucy leaned over, tucking a bit of the longer bangs back, “we’ll get back…you have four out of nine keys...you said there was one that would probably lead us back to Earthland...so…”

 

“I don’t want to be gone for years,” the man’s voice was soft, miserable, “what if he moves on?””

 

Lucy frowned as she sat there, “if he’s The One...he wouldn’t be able to..he’d wait and wait, until it was confirmed you were dead.”

 

Hestor sighed again and refilled his glass, looking up for a moment. He raised his glass, “happy new year.” He side eyed the two, “you two kiss. I’m not.”

 

Lucy let out a laugh and shoved the silver haired man, “no way!”

 

Xavier chuckled softly, shaking his head, “i’ll cuddle but that is it.”

 

Hestor rolled his eyes as he slowly stood, “right, let’s get some sleep...tomorrow is another day of surviving.” and plotting sydelle’s death. He just had to figure out how to make it look like an accident, which was the hardest part.

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

It was the next morning when they felt the ‘key feeling’ split into two...and a massive storm grew on the horizon. They could see water rocking and thrashing into the air in great geysers. Hestor swallowed and murmured, “how far away did we say that was?”

 

“Delphinus guessed we could see about ninety miles,” Lucy said, watching the water thrash into the air.

 

Xavier stood, watching almost in horror, “That means...the water is going up at least a mile.”

 

“...we’re going to die if it hits us…” Lucy said softly.

 

“Them,” Hestor’s eyes narrowed, “the keys are in there.”

 

“You’re not thinking of….” Lucy looked at the silver haired mage.

 

Hestor’s lips were drawn in a thin line, “it’s our only hope, they get within five miles of us and the waves will start drowning us.”

 

“How are you getting out there?” Lucy scowled as she crossed her arms on her chest.

 

When Hestor was quiet, Xavier spoke, “Skadi and her arrows.”

 

Hestor nodded as he tied back his now long hair with a piece of braided vines. The sun, the strangeness of it all, his silver hair now hung to his lower back...and he wondered exactly where it was going to be by the time they got back.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Three months, but the Arbiter from Bellum had been a good help. They’d found a way to at least use non-holy magic to hold the creatures at bay. It was still a fight, a massive one because it didn’t seem like the enemy army was losing numbers.

 

They weren’t losing ground yet, but the sheer numbers were going to overrun them eventually. Kaleb sighed, feeling almost lost now that he was sitting alone. He put his head in his hands, trying to reach out, trying to find Hestor’s mind, or any one of his spirits, and each time he came back with nothing.

 

Years lost all because he hadn’t wanted to push the man, didn’t want to abuse the hard won trust and now everything was raw because they had been so...new to one another. He let out a frustrated sound as he buried his hands in his hair and couldn’t help but murmur, “come home...please.”

 

~)~))~)~

  
  
  
  


It was a very, very long walk on ice that thankfully, Skadi put ‘railings’ on as it bobbed on the surface while growing. Hestor took a deep breath as he continued to walk, stopping from time to time because it **was** a long way. He took sips from a canteen he had, resting when he could, but never fully getting to sleep. He couldn’t, not when he heard the rumbling storm and water getting closer as he went.

 

As he got closer, he could better sense the keys, and see the massive serpents that were fighting. One was almost dragonlike, the other reminded him of a silver and gold anaconda...and he was pretty sure that he himself was the size of one of their fangs. These beings were massive and as Skadi stopped, he looked at her in question.

 

“The ice will not hold, i’ve tried a new arrow, the water is simply churning too much.”

 

The mage took a breath, “i’ve another ten miles to go…”

 

“You can’t swim it.”

 

“I’ll figure something out...make me a platform so i’ve plenty of room.”

 

The Spirit nodded the ice changing behind them and the walls coming up further, to Hestor’s collarbone and the man started pacing, trying to work out how he was going to get to the two massive creatures. He let out a shocked sound as a dark mass came out of the water and slammed down near where he was, sending the platform flying into the air. He watched the massive shadow come back down and his eyes widened before he took a deep breath and leapt into the water, mentally hissing at how cold it was. It jolted him though and in a few seconds he was swimming, looking up for the shadow and his eyes went wide as he saw it starting down. He pushed his body and then felt the vibration of the water as whatever it was slammed down and rippled and pushed deeper. He was flung forward through the water and scrambled to try and get to the surface.

 

When he felt something slam into him from behind, there was a distinct...snake scale feel to it. Large, yes, massively large, it had to be half his size and all he could do as he was pushed further under the water was let out a prayer to the sea as he tried to hold on long enough for the pressure to stop so he could get to the surface for air.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> people may be wondering "why are they in different time frames?"
> 
> The Celestial Spirit world runs on different time. I'm going with the the fact that all realms have varying time 'schedules' that don't always synch with one another. that's why for the one group, it's been almost a year, the other...a few scant months.


	4. Poisons

‘Son of a fucking bitch’ was the only thing going through Hestor’s mind as he felt the massive cord of muscled body he was pressed against shift and swore he felt sick. He absently wondered if this was what motion sickness felt like. He choked as he couldn’t hold his breath any more and inhaled water, only to gasp in air...then scream, like a little girl - not that he would admit it - as he was flung through the air...and right towards where two massive maws were moving together.

 

He had to wonder if this was some sort of karma for being sharp tongued, then immediately dismissed that thought. The Cosmos could kiss his ass, he wasn’t playing nice with those around him if they were stupid, lazy or just...not pushing themselves to be their best, or not a Pradesh, because he couldn’t even snark and sarcasm them away, he’d tried, it didn’t work. They were like loving honey badgers, that didn’t rip you to pieces, but kept you close and were always there when you needed someone. Unless someone was after you...then they’d rip the people apart.

 

He blinked out of his thoughts as he saw a  massive snake head coming at him...or well, he was going at it, he supposed and twisted a bit in the air. This was going to hurt no matter how he hit and all he could do was hope to lessen the impact. He watched as the two monstrous creatures slammed into one another and reared back...then paled when he realized he was going to miss both of them. If he was a betting man, which he wasn’t, he’d give himself a chance to live if he landed in the water again. However, he was a realist. From this height? With them thrashing and sending water everywhere? He was dead unless he could get on one of them. 

 

He didn’t have a bow, didn’t have rope...he had some knives, daggers...a few random swords...but unless he got close to them, none of them would be useful. Picking up a ranged weapon would be a good choice in the future and he heard Skadi hum an agreement in his head, rolling his eyes before he pulled the longest sword he had out of requip space….and did the only thing he could: Pray. The weapon was one he’d picked up on a whim years ago, the massive claymore was more for looks than anything because he sure as hell couldn’t use it in actual practice.

 

He was three quarters of the way back down to the water when he saw his chance, the anaconda like monster’s body whipped around and the man lashed out. He let out a cry of pain as the sword caught and he swung and slammed into it. He took deep breaths, knowing he had to move, but he knew his shoulder was dislocated from the jarring attack to slamming into the body of the creature and he grabbed the weapon with his other hand to let his hurt arm hang.

 

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck this hurts!” 

 

He tried to find as much purchase with his feet as he could, letting out a sound as he struggled with the twisting body and hanging in the air until he got up onto a mostly horizontal surface. He panted, deciding to just forget the claymore as he used a short sword to keep himself on the back of the snake. He took a breath as he was jostled again and looked ahead of him. As the dragon like snake reared its head up, his heart sunk, he could see the key inside it’s maw.

 

Hestor groaned as he carefully started crawling and clawing his way up, “why are these keys so fucking difficult?” he didn’t mind collecting keys, but honestly...near death experiences each time sucked.  Why couldn’t he find some nice keys? That just wanted hugs? No, The Keys to the Hall had mentally and magically tested him, a few of them nearly killing him...and the bifrost keys always had life or death situations. The moissanite keys that Xavier held all had the man meditate for days, strengthening his pathways, and the Zodiacs? Hell, those just took to Lucy as she smiled...then again, most keys of the silver variety did as well; the woman was just  **apparently** likeable. 

 

As his mind wandered, he fought his way up the writhing snake he was on and eventually came near the head, letting out a startled sound at the ridges and spikes...but that was a good thing. He wedged himself between two of them to give himself a moment to recover and let out a scream of pain as his dislocated arm was jostled. With a snarl and a twist, he slammed his shoulder into the spine he was against, roaring in pain as he felt his shoulder pop back into place. He’d have it looked at later, the next stop of whatever these stupid keys were doing. His hands went to his ears as the roars and hisses boomed into the air and hunkered down for a few more moments. He doubted the creatures were going to get tired any time soon...as they’d been fighting for at least five days with no tiring in sight.

 

He eventually gathered his wits and then moved to crouch, holding on as the creatures clashed again. Yes, he decided, he was fucking done with this shit. He made sure he was steady on his feet as he started up again, staying low and keeping his hands as close to the edges of scales as he could. “Fucking giant ass mother fucking monsters and I have to scale them to get fucking keys...hopefully only one is in a god damned mouth because otherwise I’m going to have fucking words with all the powers that beeeeeeeeeee-!” he let out a yell as the snake snapped around and held on. As he started to slide off, he felt panic and scrambled to get a hold.

 

The yell he let out was another of the ones that he would never admit to, high pitched and panicked...and decidedly sounding like a 5 year old girl screaming in terror. All he could think was that he was going to fall off, into the water and die and his hand lashed out, grabbing onto something. The cool metal made his eyes go wide when he realized it was a key. “Thank the stars…”

 

He froze when he heard a roar and saw the other creature’s massive set of open jaws, filled with teeth that were as large as he was coming at him. The man hung there and then let out a whimper. “...so fucking done…” the maw latched onto the snake around him and the one key broke free; he took a breath before leaping at the one stuck between two teeth, stumbling a bit “ugh...this place stinks…” he finally managed to get to the key and yank it from between two massive teeth.

 

“Keys of the bifrost, get us the fuck out of here!” he didn't even bother with anything else. He didn’t know where they were other than a world full of water and he wanted away, especially as he started free falling as the keys latched onto him, the massive creatures disappearing from around him.

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

One Hundred and five days. Kaleb had stopped telling time any other way. It soothed his mind that days were easier to recall. Fourteen hours and twelve minutes as well, if he wanted to get nitpicky. He felt it again, this time it was more than one and felt like a raging tempest.

 

He looked out the window, ignoring the looks he was getting as he looked at the sky. It gave him hope as he moved to stand and stare, seeing the large creature in the distance, just barely. It hadn’t moved, but it seemed to be getting taller by the day...and fire was filling the air, clouds dissolving and plants withering as green mages did what they could do save crops as it seemed the sky refused to rain any more.

 

Vander watched Kaleb from where he was sitting and listening to the conversation. Iceberg was ‘melting’ and they’d sent water mages to the borders to help find a place for the displaced waters that were trying to go into Bellum and Bosco; he’d say stella as well...but that damn shield kept them perfectly safe.  _ “Prickly?” _

 

_ “You know he dislikes that…” _

 

_ “He is though...and i think he secretly embraces it.” _

 

~)~)~)~)~))~)

  
  


All four celestial mages were screaming as they fell through the air and then down through tree branches. They let out grunts and cries of pain as they hit them, snapping some of them and then finally meeting the ground.

 

Lucy groaned as she lay there, “...that sucked.”

 

“Bite me,” hestor groaned as he slowly sat up and then narrowed his eyes as he saw Sydelle, “don’t touch anything!” he surged to his feet despite the pain and ran at her, trying to smack the apple away...he was trying to be good, right? That counted, even if it killed her.

 

“They’re apples!” the woman sneered at him before biting into one and then her eyes went wide as she fell over, saliva foaming as her body convulsed.

 

“Oh shit!” Lucy covered her mouth as she watched and then screamed as she saw a woman with black hair walk from behind two trees. 

 

Xavier narrowed his eyes a bit as he put himself between the small blonde and the woman that watched them curiously. “Who are you.”

 

She carefully pulled three apples from the tree that Sydelle had taken and bit into one, showing no ill effects. She then held out the other two to Hestor, grinning, “eat the right one and you will have your passage home.”

 

Hestor stood there, lips drawn into a thin line, “Idunn.”

 

“Ah! You know of me!” she grinned, her dark eyes dancing as she shifted, the green ‘dress’ she wore giving very little upper modesty, but from the naval down flowing like liquid though it looked like small leaves almost.

 

Hestor took a breath, “Life and Renewal...poisons in all forms.” he held out his hands, “may I?”

 

“You wish to take both?” she tilted her head, looking amused.

 

The silver haired man nodded as he gently took them both. He carefully brought them to his nose, knowing that different apples had different scents. One was crisp, had a clean smell, the other...the other smelled like Kaleb and his eyes closed. The man let out a shuddering breath as he stood there and bit into the one that smelled of just a bit of spice. His eyes rolled up in his head as he collapsed, the unbitten apple disappearing and the other rolling from his fingers.

 

“HESTOR!” Lucy screamed in terror as her hands flew to her mouth, “no!”

 

~)~)~))~

 

Hestor was floating in nothingness and narrowed his eyes as he saw a familiar figure, “Charon. Another attempt?”

 

The being seemed to grin, yet his features didn’t change, “any time I can. Why did you chose the apple you did?”

 

“It smelled like him. I will always bet on him, even if it is only his scent,” the celestial mage snarled as he floated backwards in the void, “and I will fight with you until the day you leave me the hell alone!”

 

“Good, boy,” the being laughed, humor ‘dancing’ across the impassive features and Hestor really had to figure out why he could tell what the being was feeling...but later. Not right now. Right now was a bad time to try to. “You have the drive, the urge…”

 

Hestor gasped as Charon was suddenly holding his face and for once, he didn’t shiver at the cold touch, but his eyes narrowed in challenge.

 

“Good, keep that resolve, StarBlade, so that the three of you can bring what is needed to defeat Surtr about.”

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

Lucy was crying as she knelt next to the silver haired man, hands slamming onto his sternum as she panicked and couldn’t believe it. She didn’t know where they were, how to get home...and she’d  **promised** he would get to see Kaleb again! She didn’t take that lightly.

 

Xavier frowned as he pulled her back, murmuring as he wrapped his arms around her, “There’s nothing we can do...I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

 

Lucy let out a wail of anger and anguish as she clung to the large man, fingers twisting as she couldn’t stop the tears. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. They weren’t supposed to land in an Orchard paradise to have the other two die.

 

Idunn stood there, just watching the unmoving man on the ground as if she were waiting. She tilted her head a bit and then her eyes lit up.

 

Hestor suddenly took a gasping breath and the exhale was frosty. The man shuddered as he lay there and then his lips quirked into a grin. He panted, his breath still showing in the air and he let out a low laugh that echoed in the air. It turned almost manic for a moment and then he stared into the spirit’s dark eyes and held out a hand.

 

Two keys were neatly dropped into the outstretched fingers and the laughter continued for a moment before she spoke, “you will find Bragi where you least expect him.”

 

“Key of bifrost! Yggdrasil! Open the rainbow bridge,” Hestor slowly climbed to his feet, voice ringing out, “Take us to Midgard! Take us home!”

  
  


~)~)~)~))~)~

  
  


One hundred and eighty days, seventy five days of feeling nothing. The  _ Thing  _ in the north was now a raging inferno and it was all any mage could do to keep themselves stable, it was as if magic itself was becoming unstable. Bellum had fallen, all but one Holy Warrior felled as they were finally overrun. The last one had been inconsolable almost and had nearly rushed back into the fray after the withdrawal of forces.

 

She’d screamed and raged and it had been Farron that had managed to calm her, though the fight was intense as she threw everything at him that she could. Yet the fire seemed to slide off of him and when he’d finally pinned her, deep orange eyes had filled with tears and yet at the same time there had been admiration. The feelings had broken a dam and the result had been ripped clothing and the entire group seeing the birth of an archangel nearly twenty days prior. It had brought cheers as Zen had been the only one with any lasting effects on the creatures other than the holy warriors of bellum.

 

The three were resting from another strike as everyone felt the power surge in the courtyard and started  moving, ready for a fight. A rainbow of colors swirled and kaleb’s breath caught. The dark skin, the long silver hair that flowed to his knees...he could only associate it with Ma’at, one of Hestor’s spirits...but if the spirit was there with the blonde woman and the chestnut haired man… The mindbender’s heart broke at the thought that the spirit had brought the two back and yet not hestor, was the body unrecoverable? That had to be the only reason, he swore that he’d heard the male mage’s voice telling him that he  **promised** to come back, his spirit would have brought his body back...if there had been one.

 

Mages swamped the courtyard but the silver haired male turned slowly, the eyes that met his were not yellow, but a steel blue and he saw a serenity in them. The once pale features holding a tan that was typical of most Boscans and a slender hand came up to brush the long bangs from his features as he gave a small smile, a quirk of the lips really and a slender silver brow rose.  _ “Miss me?” _

 

_ “More than I can say,” _ Kaleb moved towards Hestor and let his hand reach out almost tentatively, afraid that it was all a dream. His shaking hand gently rested against warm cheek before the face was gently pressed into it, lips turning to very lightly graze across his wrist. 

 

“I’ll be damned,” Vander said, “Prickly  **can** tan...and looks fucking hot as hell.” the shadowquip gave a leering grin.

 

The steel blue eyes landed on Vander and the man purred as he stepped into Kaleb, “i was  **always** hot as hell, Vander.” he leaned his face up and drug the mindbender into a scorching kiss.

 

A swirl of magic had everyone starting, save the two celestial mages that had come back with Hestor and a man with deep auburn hair and a bit of a beard appeared. He dressed in breeches and a jerkin, his voice melodic, “I believe, Master mine, that thine statement has different meanings.”  Jade eyes leveled on Hestor as the males lips quirked into a cocky smirk.

 

Hestor snorted softly as he leaned into Kaleb, “Bragi. What is it.”

 

“While the past half-yearly span has been enjoyable, Master Mine,” The man almost leered at the Celestial mage, “you have the night…” he nodded his head “thine quest for the third of the warriors need start upon the morrow.”

 

Hestor let out a low sound as he sat there, “I was gone almost two years….let me have-” The Spirit’s sharp look made Hestor pause and let out a small sound that only Kaleb could hear. He let out a faint sigh as he stood there, “tomorrow, midday.”

 

“Wait...two years?” Kaleb frowned, “it’s been six months.”

 

Hestor gave a faint smile, “do you think my skin would have tanned like this, or my hair grow like this in six months?” he arched an eyebrow slightly, “it was much longer for us.” he looked towards Lucy and rolled his eyes, “stop drooling wom-”

 

Lucy was just openly staring and ogling Zen as she stood there, even when Natsu was trying to get her attention. She put a hand on his head and pushed him aside with a mumbled, “not now, Natsu. Hot guy.”

 

Xavier chuckled at the mumbled words and watched the small blonde almost stalk towards Zen, eyes glowing, “ah, I had wondered.”

 

She stopped in front of Zen, tilting her head and then her fingers went out as she breathed, “you’re perfect.” she tilted her head up, “kiss me.” the two words were a plea and a heated request at the same time as her fingers lightly ghosted over his jaw and then into his hair.

 

Kaleb tensed but Hestor nuzzled him, murmuring as they felt something warm in the air, “shh, it’s safe.”

 

As the two kissed, the woman let out a low mewl and when Natsu decided to get close letting out a protest about not taking her from him. Lucy turned, a hand going out and magic snapping towards the slayer, throwing him back as her eyes blazed, “no. you are not my keeper.” she half melted into Zen, an action that had typically been something the archangel had done around Celestial mages, not the other way around.  Her hand moved to tug at his hair as she let out a small pleading sound.

 

Vander grinned, “damn do we get another show? We could use it.”

 

Zen’s eyes narrowed as his arm snapped around the small woman, wings flaring wide, “no.” with that, a swirl of dust kicked up as the massive black wings slammed down and he was in the air.

 

Hestor let out a low hum as he stood there, watching and nodded, “good.” he turned back to kaleb, purring, “we have tonight, Kaleb, let’s make it count, hmm?”

 

The mindbender let out a low moan as the now sunkissed body pressed against him and dipped his head down, he let out a possessive sounding ‘mine’ before Hestor let out a low chuckle, “yours. always.”

  
  



	5. Practice Makes perfect

Hestor and Kaleb had retreated to the man’s suite, the celestial mage letting out low hums into the kisses as he was pressed against any surface the mindbender could find to keep him pinned and ‘real’. When the door to the suite closed, Hestor didn’t waste time tearing Kaleb’s clothes off and grinning almost roguishly at the look on the other man’s face. He purred as he wrapped his hand in the platinum hair and yanked before surging forward and nipping at the exposed neck.

 

The summoner only let his hands drop long enough to help shuck off his shirt, not bothering to do more than kick out of his pants with a groan of relief as the pressure lessened.

 

Kaleb looked at the man for a moment then smirked, “no tan lines?”

 

Hestor rolled his eyes as he fisted the platinum hair and yanked the other close, hissing as they crashed back into the wall, “after two years, I really don’t want to talk about that.”

 

Kaleb groaned, looming over the smaller man and dipping his head down, biting the other man’s shoulder as his hips moved to help him pin the other man, his lips trailed up, placing hungry kisses that lit a fire in the Celestial Mage that had him letting out whines of need, _“i was without you for six months, I couldn’t imagine two years.”_

 

_“Don’t,”_ Hestor shuddered as he arched into the other man, hooking a leg up and rolling his hips, grinding their erections together as he gasped and his head fell back against the wall, _“it was misery.”_

 

_“Never again.”_ Kaleb grabbed the back of Hestor’s neck, slanting his mouth against the other man’s and delving his tongue to get a better taste of the other man. He couldn’t help but moan, sea sage and some sort of honey mead.

  


Hestor let out a growl that ended in a pleased hum as his senses were filled with kaleb and he arched while digging his fingers in, _“i swear to the fucking stars...bed. Now.”_

 

~)~))~

 

Zen landed and watched as the blonde woman slowly looked up at him. Her hands moved and she gently curled them upwards, fingers freeing his hair and then curling through it.  

 

Her eyes slowly searched his before she murmured, “I feel like I’ve waited my entire life to find you...only i didn’t know it was you.”

 

Zen grinned as he let her pull him down, he could tell she was unsure and shy now that they were alone. THe public display wasn’t just a display, but she seemed to be doubting what she was feeling, yet not resisting it at the same time. It created a swirl of emotions in her eyes that had him holding her gently. He softly rumbled against her lips, “relax. I’m here.”

 

Lucy let out  a whimper and pressed herself against him and Zen’s hands moved, grabbing her and then hefting her up. The archangel let out a low rumble of approval as he walked to his bed and laid her out.

 

He studied her, watching the fanned out hair on the pillow and chuckled as she let out a whine and tugged at his hair. This wasn’t the same strange draw he’d felt around other celestial mage, this was...a warmth that spread and made him feel complete, whole. Not like someone was trying to make him bend to them, no, this small woman was calling out to him almost begging.

 

Zen took his time, slowly divesting her of her clothing and then slowly let his hands trail along her skin, his lips worshiping her body as he knelt in front of her and looked up into her eyes. He’d been around enough different celestial mages to know how they could pull him, could yank his emotions to them and overrun his will, but this golden woman? No, she was giving herself first, opening up her magic and soothing it against his, not around it.

 

Lucy’s body trembled beneath his fingers and Zen felt heat rise in him, more than with any normal lover and he pulled her down into his lap, hand curling into her hair and murmuring as he slid himself against the weeping folds, “All that I am, I give you to.”

 

That was the last thing that he truly remembered as he felt the fires of desire and need surge through him as their bodies connected with a gasping cry of pleasure from her that ran down his spine.

 

~))~)~)~)~

 

Farron rolled his eyes as he watched Vander sulk while they relaxed with an evening meal. It was as much as could be expected in an ‘end of the world, shit’s gone to hell’ situation, “Van, really?”

 

The shadowquip whined, “yeeeeeeeeees. Did you see the ones that came back? Seas…” he grinned, “I’d love to sink my hands and teeth into one of them.”

 

Liljana, or Lily, the last holy warrior of bellum rolled her eyes, “there’s wanting pleasure...and then being a manwhore.” She leaned against Farron and smirked, “you skirt the line.”

 

Vander shrugged, “did you see them? Man, Prickly tanned and then that blonde..” he let out a groan, “man, and to think that’s who they all kept me from seeing periodically...I would love to hear her moan and see her wri-” he trailed off as magic flared through the air from two sources, “uh….”

 

Farron’s brows shot up a bit “....well we know one is probably Zen...but...the other…”

 

Vander looked at the two and was gone, swirling away into the shadows looking semi-giddy.

 

“I don’t think he’s going to be getting a threesome now,” Lily said as she sipped her drink.

 

Farron snorted lightly, “he wouldn’t have been getting one before.”

  


~)~)~))~)~

 

Vander could deal with Zen mating, a little jealous he’d never gotten to sample the blonde that had visited and half mused that his brother had always been out on missions when Lucy had breezed into town. Not that he hadn’t tried, but she was highly resistant to his charms, he supposed he knew now why.

 

No, his curiosity was to figure out what happened with Kaleb and Prickly. He had to be careful, lest Kaleb sense him, but when he saw them both passed out, he was trying to not chuckle. The shadowquip slowly inched around them and let out a groan in his head when he saw the mark they’d all seen form on Lily’s breast on Hestor’s. His eyes narrowed however, at the crossed blades that had also appeared within the mark. That was new and different.

 

_“I swear, Van, if you wake him up.”_

 

Wine eyes met lavender and narrowed, _“need to take a look at your back.”_

 

_“....why?”_

 

_“Look at Prickly’s chest.”_

 

Kaleb frowned a bit and then looked down carefully shifting the celestial mage and then feeling shock as he saw the familiar mark...with unfamiliar additions. He slowly sat up, shifting little by little to not wake the sleeping man.

 

Vander carefully moved a free standing mirror over, and saw what Kaleb was going to see before his brother did, _“holy shit, Kaleb….”_ The shadowquip snorted, _“well, now we know why you pined over him…”_

 

Hestor let out a shuddering sigh and shifted, brow furrowing before he mumbled and slowly came to. His mind registered that Kaleb was sitting up and he slowly pushed himself up, scowling as he saw Vander and then looking at the mirror. The sharp words on his tongue died as he took a sharp breath of air that seemed to catch in his throat.

  


Kaleb felt when Hestor went from annoyed to shocked...and then started when Rage flew through the man like a flash fire. “Hes?”

 

The celestial mage’s voice was a deadly, threatening hiss, “bragi!!!”

 

_“Yes, Master Mine?”_

 

“Get out here! Now!” Hestor snarled as he sat up, groaning at the twinge from his muscles truly not being used to that after so long. Feeling sated and pleasingly sore would not stop him from raging.

 

_“I apologize, I am currently unab-”_

 

“Did you know!?” Hestor took a few breaths as he sat there, hand fisting in the sheets. The silence that was his answer was all he needed as an answer. They had all known!

 

“Hes,” Kaleb felt the man raging and then grabbed his face, kissing him and feeling the ire melt away as the Celestial Mage let out a whine. _“There, calm down…”_

 

Hestor let out a low whine at being denied his anger, melting into kaleb and shivering as his hands went to fist the platinum hair. The man started to climb into Kaleb’s lap only to hiss as he heard a throat being cleared. The steel blue eyes narrowed dangerously as he looked at Vander, “what.”

 

“So...your spirit said something about...three warriors?”

 

Hestor groaned and put his head on Kaleb’s shoulder, “we’re dealing with Surtr, an extraplanar being from a world of fire that wants to scorch Earth land and make a new...planet for himself to raze over and over again….I think…” he mumbled, “we need….three archangels.”

 

Vander snorted in humor, “well, it’s a good thing we have three now.”

 

“What?” Hestor’s head snapped up.  
  
Kaleb shook his head, “we have a meeting after lunch...we will discuss the details then...and hopefully save Earth Land.”

 

“Fine...i need my hair cut anyway…”

 

Kaleb smirked, “you promised I could have it **any** length I wanted.”  The mindbender laughed as he heard the Celestial mage start mentally ranting at his spirits.

  


~)~)~)~)~

  


Hestor stood at the head of the table, looking around at the group. His bangs and some of his hair had been cut to frame his face, the rest...while long, had been cut off at the small of his back and layered. He really half wished that his spirits hadn’t passed on random things he’d said, but...seeing the desire in Kaleb’s eyes as his fingers ran through his hair? Maybe it was a good thing. He took a breath and adjusted the deep navy shirt he wore, eyes scanning the group, “So…”

 

Yukino looked at Hestor, “you went through the Trial of The Starblades.”

 

The man turned his eyes to the woman, taking her in for a long moment before Xavier spoke, “do your keys work again?”

 

Yukino pursed her lips, “mine were taken when you disappeared.”

 

Lucy’s eyes narrowed from where she was curled up in Zen’s lap, gently playing with his hair, “we’ll have to talk to Stashface then.” she let out a low hum and brought the hair to her face, nuzzling it.

 

“It will be dealt with...provided you can tear away from cuddling long enough to do so,” hestor said in a detached voice.

 

Lucy looked at Hestor, peeking out from the hair she was nuzzling and arching a brow, “hey, at least I went for what I wanted when i saw it.”

 

The steel blue eyes narrowed but Xavier stepped in with a snort, “ladies. Please.” he ignored the indignant sound from Hestor, “we’ve got things to do. Lucy, the key situation, Zen...Kaleb will need training, so will Hestor, to work with him...your mate as well.”

 

Hestor sat down slowly, “we’ve bought ourselves a bit of time...but...I am sure Surtr knows what happened last night….”

 

Xavier nodded as he picked up his glass and slowly sipped from it, “i would count on him knowing...and your training will continue this evening after you do the work with the archangels.”

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow and then sighed, “fine. We’ll adjourn for training.”

 

~)~))~)~

  


Lily and Farron had plenty of time to learn to work together, perfecting what Zen knew and learning what they didn’t. It had given the three pair a benchmark at least of how far they had to push to be functional in battle.

 

Lucy had a habit of pulling either too much power from Zen or two little and she was cursing herself left and right every time she pulled too much. Lily was not an easy opponent, especially as a trained warrior.

 

Zen felt..a strange harmony with Hestor and Kaleb. Not that he and lucy nor Lily and Farron didn’t have it, this was something else. This was partially due to working together for many years he could guess. They knew one another’s limits, to a point, because Hestor had grown in their time apart.

 

Lily had been pleasantly shocked that Hestor, despite his magic, was well versed with swords, the man using two short swords with precision and for a man of his size, he was fast on his feet. He was in and out before she could get more than a hit or two on him, though, after studying him sparring against Lucy and Zen, she realized that he was fully utilizing the ability to go to Kaleb at a rate faster than she had Farron had picked it up.

 

He’d even pulled the other man to him when Zen had come at him, letting the two brothers face off instead. She realized that he was **cunning** , more so than even Lucy, who would change out spirits with speed when something wasn’t working.  The Holy warrior had a hefty respect for his archer spirit and her ice, especially when she had barely registered the spirit out before the arrow had nearly hit her.

 

The three way spar was where things got..interesting, she decided. Lucy needed combat experience, she’d admitted it and when she’d gone for the blonde, she’d found silver hair in her view before she was leaping backwards and rolling out of the way. Her eyes narrowed as she grinned and looked at the man standing there. The man had a cocky smirk on his lips before he clicked his tongue and crooked a finger at her.

 

They understood that the Starbringer was the one who would use more magic than the others, so it made sense that she was mated to Zen, the man’s magic refilled at a monsterous rate. The last meeting had shown this man was the Starblade, there to cut off the problems so she could do what she needed to do.

 

“C’mon girl, start flexing that magic,” Hestor called over his shoulder before he drove forward again, ears listening for anything that might be coming at him. He let out a curse and going to dive to the side as Farron was in front of him and then stumbled as he was falling into Kaleb.

 

The mindbender quirked an eyebrow even as he brought his sword around, blocking a strike from Zen, _“careful.”_

 

_“Bah,”_ Hestor scowled and then shifted sliding around Kaleb and running the back of a hand along the man’s spine before he was diving forward again. What he hadn’t expected was the sound of a gun ringing out and he hissed as he dove away from the redhead. He felt more than saw the whip coming around and then grinned as he saw the shots explode. Good, Lucy was learning...and that was a good thing. She was aware of her strengths. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Farron and then started running, trusting Lucy as he tapped into his magic, the swords on his chest that was nestled in his mating mark starting to lightly glow.

 

The man grinned as he felt the magic flare and lept into the air. Kaleb felt it first and blocked a swing from Zen that sent him back a few feet, but even his brother turned his head. It was almost like watching Lucy use a star dress, a glow around him that swirled, starting at the mark and then crawling over his skin brightly.

 

Hestor’s dark shirt seemed to melt away, leaving armor across his back that swirled up his sides yet left the now tanned chest exposed save for a few swirls of golden metal and around his right arm, encasing it as he spun and brought one of his swords down. The man continued to press forward, pushing farron to spin away and pull a sword to combat the agile man even as Magic continued to swirl around him, a pauldron on his left arm, the magic snaking over his skin and only leaving a burnished gold gauntlet on his hand; then the magic flared over the swords and they shone like stars as he let out a battle cry.

 

Farron’s baby blue eyes went wide as he blocked, they’d only seen this sort of ferocity from him once: after Kaleb had been beat by Joren. The man spun on his foot and planted it, and Farron’s eyes went wide as he saw very elvish ears on the man as a red swirl of fabric connected at both pauldrons and then he disappeared.

 

Zen felt the magic and then grinned. He’d heard about this aggressive Hestor, but hadn’t ever seen it. He leapt backwards as the smaller man appeared by kaleb mid leap and met the smaller swords with his own, parrying them near effortlessly as his eyes danced. He took the other in, letting him try to figure out his guard, keeping a cautious eye on the smaller male before arching an eyebrow, “nice ears.”

 

The steel blue eyes blinked, the man half stumbling “what?!” when Zen didn’t attack, his hand came up and ran over one ear and Zen let out a booming laugh as the man’s eye twitched.

  
  



	6. Dance Magic Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ..yes, yes I went there.

Kaleb let out a sharp breath as spirits were forcibly summoned, feeling his magic dip, but thankfully not dangerously low.

 

All of the bifrost keys were literally ripped through their gates as hestor rounded on them and pointed at his ears, “what is this?!”

 

Bragi blinked as Idunn was around his waist with the back of her dress the only thing that really gave any modesty. Loki, Fenrir and Skadi were in a strange pile and looking oddly like they were awoken from sleep. Two...little tiny serpents were curled around Modgud’s arms and she was looking around in confusion...then there was a sapling. In a pot. that the female spirit appeared to be watering.

 

Loki stretched and yawned as he lay half against Fenrir, “those are ears, I am sure you know what they are.”

 

“These are not my ears,” Hestor hissed at the spirits that seemed either far too relaxed as they regarded their keyholder, as if his anger didn’t mean much...and to them it probably didn’t.

 

Idunn let out a low sound and sighed as she was carefully put down. Her fingers curling over Bragi’s cheek, “we will apparently finish this later.”

 

The jade eyes danced as the male spirit wrapped an arm around Idunn, even as her hands worked to right his clothing, “that, my lady, sounds magical.”

 

Skadi slowly stretched, “you match your mate better with them, I think.”

 

“This had best not be permanent!” at the silence, Hestor hissed, “it’s not, is it?”

 

“I would wager the magic has decided you need to better mirror your mate when in battle,” Loki yawned as he let his head rest back, eyes closing. “I would doubt they would be like that when the armor leaves.”

 

“...so...do all celestial Mages do cosplay?”

 

Hestor’s head whipped around fast enough that his neck should have snapped to land narrowed eyes on bickslow, voice a low, dangerous hiss, “... **_excuse me?_ ** _”_

 

The Seith mage put his hands up, “just asking...because….well..” He looked at Lucy and saw the annoyed look on her face.

 

“I don’t **cosplay** , Bickslow!”

 

The Seith slowly arched an eyebrow, “then what do you call that changing outfit stuff?”

 

Lucy’s features got flat as she lunged, Zen grabbing her around the waist and holding her. The archangel arched an amused brow as he looked at his brother, “star dress, a rather old magic.”

 

“...still cosplay….and Virgo was all about dressing her up, bro…” Bickslow shrugged, “I mean…there was that cheerleader outfit at Fantasia...Hes likes to look like he’s stepped out of a gothic novel normally, only need fangs and he’d be a vamp...Yukino and Angel have those...feathered capes and head pieces...then there’s Brandish...”

 

Lucy hissed the Seith’s name as she wriggled and kicked, anger flaring, “I will hit you.”

 

None of them expected the attack that hit Bickslow, because none of them expected Yukino to leap onto his back. “Ow! Fuck! What the hell?!” the Seith twisted as he was hit.

 

Yukino hissed as she grabbed Bickslow’s hair, yanking his head back with a growl, “sacred things!”

 

Lucy blinked as she stopped trying to get away from Zen and watched the woman owlishly, “whoa…” the golden brown eyes went wide and danced as Yukino kissed the Seith, soundly and with her tongue delving in to taste the tall man.

 

Kaleb tilted his head as he watched and then carefully slid an arm around Hestor, bringing the silver haired mage into his side. He let out a soft snort into the soft hair, _“seems like getting any celestial mage riled up is the way to get kissed, hmm?_

 

Hestor rolled his eyes, lightly elbowing the taller man in the stomach. _“Behave.”_

 

~)~)~)~)~)~)

  


Hestor sat with their evening meal, looking less than pleased. He’d tried to pull the spell back, only to end up with his head snapping back and a bloodied nose. It had taken nearly an hour for him to return to normal and then there had been grins. By no means were his ears anything but what he expected, no, it was that he had been struggling that had been the reason.

 

He had to admit the spell had come easily but ending it seemed like it was going to be an issue. His fingers slowly drummed on the table, eyes staring ahead of him without seeing as his mind went over everything.

 

“You need to eat,” Kaleb’s voice cut through his thoughts.

 

Hestor opened his mouth and then made a startled sound at the food that had gone into it. He glowered as he chewed and huffed, _“cute.”_

 

_“I said you needed to eat. You’ll figure out what happened.”_ The mindbender grinned at the other man.

 

Hestor let out a grumble and tried to get the fork back, the small fight ending up with him in the mindbender’s lap and **still** being fed.

 

~)~))~

 

Hestor sighed as he looked at Lucy, “again.” the sun was starting to set and they’d really been at this far too long for his own liking.

 

The blonde scowled at him, “this is **not** easy! Not all of us went to the Academe to learn.”

 

The silver haired man slowly arched an eyebrow as he sat there and his hand went out, slowly channeling a bit of magic. Four baseball sized orbs of magic appeared in his palm and his fingers moved, rolling them in his palm, “really? This was one of the earliest exercises i was taught for control.” he transferred one to his other hand and let it roll along the back, tossing it up and catching it on a finger. He wasn’t about to tell her that it hadn’t been something he’d learned at the adaceme. No, this was something Kek-t had forced on him, making him do it for hours in the wee hours of the night to work on his magic. If there was one spirit that had pushed him hard from the start, it had been her...with an implied threat of getting better or having his soul eaten.

 

Lucy stared at him for a long moment and rolled her eyes, “alright, **Jereth** .” her lip curled back. The man **almost** looked the part too. Wearing black pants, boots and a flowing shirt under a vest? It was only a hairstyle and color change.

 

Hestor snorted, “well, shall we send you to the bog of eternal stench? Perhaps that will help you become more proficient in your skills?”

 

Lucy stared at him for a long moment and groaned, “of course you would know that movie.”

 

Hestor smirked softly “it is a good movie.”

 

“Do I remind you of the babe?” Lucy arched an eyebrow in challenge.

 

Whatever seriousness the two had been attempting as derailed by that statement as both Celestial Mages’ eyes danced as Yukino spoke up as she walked into the training area with a tray of drinks, “what babe?”

 

“The babe with the power,” Hestor said, looking at Yukino, it was very obvious the woman had never seen the movie as confusion flashed in her eyes.

 

“What power?”

 

“The power of voodoo,” Hestor’s eyes danced as he watched Yukino.

 

The woman squeaked, looking almost scared, “who do?”

 

“You do,” Lucy giggled, eyes dancing in delight and then her eyes went wide.

 

A rich voice filled the air, “I saw my baby, crying hard as babe could cry..”

 

The three looked at Vander and Hestor had shaken his head, giving into singing and dancing, if only to help deal with rising frustrations.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

  


Hestor stretched languidly across the sheets, letting out a soft sigh as he lay there. Training had been derailed, but….he would take the utterly blissful few hours that Kaleb had drug him into. He slowly opened his eyes; the man had truly forgotten that none of White Sea knew he sang, or danced, or enjoyed watching musicals.

 

He could feel Kaleb resting and knew better than to move too much. The man needed rest, hell, Hestor knew he needed rest, but he wasn’t sure that he wanted to drift back off yet. Things were new again and he had to admit he enjoyed watching the other sleeping peacefully.

 

Hestor carefully slid out of the bed and went to the window that was facing north. His lips were drawn in a thin line as he settled into the sill, just watching the glow from the horizon. He absently formed two orbs in his fingers, rolling them in his palm as he thought. It was partially to work on his control...and partially just a way for him to think. The action let his mind wander. He was sure Surtr knew what transpired, but the attacks and seemed to stop.

 

Lucy was..coming along, but the meeting that moment had all their troops moving at the border where the last skirmish was. They had to move and go on the offensive if they were going to get anywhere. Being defensive wouldn’t get them anything but dead mages, soldiers and knights.

 

All guilded mages in Bosco registered for military duty, as was per the law. It helped them all, Hestor firmly believed. Instilled more pride in their forces and as mages, you often went where at least a few of your guildmates were. You always knew who was watching your back, that you could trust them. You may **hate** them, but you trusted them. His lips curled into a small sad smile. Fiore was nothing like that. Mages there were mostly grown children doing jobs, sometimes badly, sometimes well with the poor Rune mages trying to keep peace.

 

Kaleb had told him how much of an utter fight it had been to bring the Fiorian mages into cohesive units, many refusing to follow any but their Guild masters or team leaders. They were still struggling but with the generals there, and some former guildmasters from Bosco, things were coming around.

 

He’d been debating on talking to Grenlow for a few days now. Hestor had a lot of respect for the former guild master. He’d taken pride in having a Celestial Mage enter White Sea...and that had given him hope to not be seen as weak. He’d trained harder than before, not just because of his spirits, but because someone was proud of him that wasn’t family, wasn’t a spirit whose key he owned. No, it was all because of himself.

 

He had driven himself hard over the years, done some...very, very questionable things. It had been Kaleb first as apprentice guildmaster and then later as guildmaster that had drug him back from the tipping point where he’d...felt all it would take was a light breeze to send him crashing into the darkness that would consume his soul...or make the soul ripe for the sisters of ammit to eat.

 

The man let out a faint sigh as he sat there and let his head fall back.

 

_“You worry too much, Master.”_

 

Hestor flinched as he heard Kek-t. He was used to it, but it was the sisters and brothers who had full access to his idle thoughts, as they would wrap their power around them to keep them from getting inadvertently broadcast to any mind mage around. _“She’s not ready. I am worrying just enough.”_

 

At the silence, he knew Kek-t understood what he was saying.  He wasn’t sure they were going to be ready, there was too much training that Fiore just...neglected with their mages of all types and it pained him. The six months they’d had on Earth Land barely made things passable. There were too many wild mages from Fiore that he saw as a liability.

 

Hestor felt the start of kaleb stirring and let the magic in his hand come back before he stood and walked to the bed. With a small smile, he laid back down and rolled his eyes with affectionate exasperation as the man curled towards him. The celestial mage let out a low hum and then shifted to curl into the larger man, nestling his head in the other’s neck and holding him. He would never admit to anyone, but something like this...was the best thing to soothe his mind and emotions.

 

~~)~)~)~)~

  


The morning brought the ‘troops’ setting up and getting ready to head out. Hestor could feel the apprehension in the air. They couldn’t risk teleporting, not with how unstable the land was….and he needed an endpoint for Yggdrasil. He turned as he made sure that his things were in order. The man rolled his eyes as Lucy was crying and clinging to Zen. The woman was so damn emotional. He looked around, taking it all in. things were tense and he knew that...it was going to be now or never.

 

Farron and Lily were speaking quietly and he tilted his head as the eldest pradesh put a hand on the woman’s stomach. His eyes narrowed a bit and then he saw confusion melt to joy in the baby blue eyes before shaking his head. Leave it to a Holy Warrior.

 

He leaned back, smelling spiced apples and then  looked up at Kaleb, “almost time?”

 

The mindbender gave a soft nod as he leaned down, kissing the other “will you be alright?”

 

“I just need to know an end point...then our forces will be there.”

 

“It won’t drain you too much?”

 

Hestor rolled his eyes, “i’m transporting an army through a planar gate...of course it’s going to drain me.” he turned and let his arms curl up, fingers sliding through the thick blond hair, “I will be fine. I have faith in you and your brothers.”

 

_“Will it be like the hall?”_

 

Hestor pursed his lips, _“I don’t know, but if it is...you will feel it.”_ he kissed the mindbender again, feeling the worry, _“no negative thoughts. It may just be until the gate is closed…I will not be alone until the last unit goes through…”_

 

_“I’ll expect you at my side then.”_

 

Hestor purred mentally, _“i want to be nowhere else.”_

  
  
  
  



	7. March of Mages

One thing that Hestor hated was waiting, he could feel Kaleb, feel the man getting further away and as the mages stood around and waited...he knew the next part would be on himself. He’d settled down to the side on a bench, pursing his lips in thought. After a few moments, he settled his elbows on his knees and threaded his fingers together before his face dipped down. He had a pensive look on his features as he stared off, just thinking.

 

He looked up when he saw someone walking and gave a faint smile, “Master Grenlow.”

 

“Not master anymore, Hestor,” The older man chuckled before he sat down.

 

The Celestial mage shrugged slightly, “You were my first guildmaster…” he looked back ahead of him, “you gave me a chance, you were proud of  **me** for who I was...despite the darkness I was drowning in…” he snorted, “and If I call Kaleb Master too much...well…” he grinned, “there had best be crops and chains involved.”

 

“Now  **that** is the young man I welcomed into White Sea,” Grenlow looked ahead of him, “you and Kaleb, hmm?”

 

Hestor huffed a bit as he sat there but smirked as he looked up. “Honestly, I joined to go to the Academe.”

 

Grenlow arched an eyebrow, “mhm.”

 

Hestor looked at the former white sea guildmaster out of the corner of his eye, then back up, arching an eyebrow, “what was that supposed to mean.”

 

“You were always drawn to his light,” Grenlow stood, “well, I’ll leave you to your thoughts.”

  
  
Hestor made a sour look at the man’s back as he walked away then  took a breath, going back to waiting, brooding and looking up at the sky.

 

~)~))~)~)~

 

Kaleb, Zen and Farron flew through the sky, each of them having their own worries. Worries about the battle, worries about the losses that could come, worries about their mates.

 

Kaleb looked ahead of them as they flew and pursed his lips, “I’m aware this is tactically sound. We can’t just wait any more.”

  
  
“This is, If what Leo says is true, the reason Archangel Magic was made,” Zen looked over at his brother, “to stop things like this.”

 

Farron let out a hum, “and if we go in alone, we’ll be overrun, that’s all there is to it. It’s almost like he’s waiting to test us.”

 

The three let the conversation drop, they were well aware that this creature was quite literally destroying Earth Land and they searched for a decently open place to bring the large group of mages to. In all honesty, it took far longer than they thought and when they found the valley with an archway made of stone that was within a few hours walk from the edge of the burnt land where they could see...a massive camp of creatures, it was their best bet.

 

Kaleb closed his eyes, letting his mind find Hestor,  _ “we’re here.” _

 

_ “Good open space?” _

 

_ “We’ve got a large arch of rock, that should help make a decent base, right?” _

 

He felt the Celestial mage hum and then let out a small sound  _ “It should do. Everyone will be there shortly...well as shortly as this lot can move.” _

 

Kaleb chuckled softly and shook his head, looking up at the arch and taking a breath, “They’ll be here shortly.”

  
  
Zen grinned, “good. Then we can start our march.”

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

Hestor took a breath as he walked to the center of the courtyard, feeling every set of eyes on him. He licked his lips before murmuring, holding the sparkling key as lights danced off it’s surface, creating a kaleidoscope of color and magic, “I call upon the Bifrost, world tree, connecting to every realm, Yggdrasil, open to where I wish to go.”

 

The man’s eyes lit up and he simply became unmoving, the key held out as if he were about to put it into a door that was locked, as a tree started to form from the ground magically. It slowly grew until it was an archway with the leaves of the tree at the top and a set of glowing doors that slowly opened to reveal a hallway with a glowing archway not twenty feet through an inky darkness with swirls of stars and galaxies.

 

The Orders to move out came and the mages all moved through, being careful of the man that was just standing there with power pouring off him. Lucy bit her lip as she stood there, “Will he be…?”

 

Lily spoke firmly, “I am staying behind, like him, I am able to easily place myself at my mate’s side.” She looked at the blonde, “Go. we will be fine.”

 

Lucy looked back every few steps as she moved out with the rest of their forces, biting her lower lip. She was worried about what could happen.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

 

The three archangels watched as a door appeared before opening and mages came walking out within a few minutes. They heard a strange whistling in the air and looked up, seeing a massive, flaming rock flying through the air.

 

Zen barked out, “Go see where that is going, Kaleb, Farron.”

 

The two nodded and took to the sky before flying after the massive ball. Both felt dread as they saw it heading towards what looked to be a massive door with a tree on top. Kaleb took a breath as he poured magic into his wings,  _ “let us know when the last person is through. It’s headed for...the starting gate.” _

 

_ “Son of a…” _ Zen cursed mentally. The creature knew what it was doing, if only partially. By taking out the summoner that had that key, it would hamper their ability to move troops around quickly. The massive scale that it had been brought out on right now was partially to blame, but they needed to move the mages quickly closer.

 

The two in the air banked around a smoldering tree, realizing just how hot the thing that was screaming through the air was and it was all they could do to make themselves fly faster. Kaleb could feel a drain on his magic, realizing just how much magic what Hestor was doing took and he felt a bit of fear.

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

Lily looked up as she heard what she could only think of as the rolling crackle of burning stone and her eyes went wide. She looked into the gate, taking deep breaths as she watched the mages running and murmured, “move, move.”

 

When the last mage was through the other side, she felt the heat and looked up, seeing the looming ball of destruction coming for the two of them and she grabbed the man around the waist and tried to drag him away from the gate, letting out a sound as he went limp, heavy and awkward to move.

 

She took a breath and then yanked on every bit of magic she could, letting out a scream of anger as fire curled around her and she looked up to what was probably ‘death’. Her eyes went wide as two figures appeared and the wings that shimmered in the air  gave her relief as she slumped a bit, smiling up at Farron even as she let the man go when the large blond gathered the silver haired male into his arms.

 

She felt a peace, even if things were going to go bad, he was there and she stood, surging up as he offered her a hand and wrapped her arms around him. Heat normally didn’t affect her, but the relief she felt made a wash of cool reassurance flow over her even as the sound got louder and she closed her eyes, burying her face in Farron’s neck. She let out a sound despite herself as she felt rippling power and then heat that made her feel hot and sweltering.  The pain never came and she eventually opened her eyes and looked around. The stone structure was half melted in places, but around the four of them, there was a cleared area.

 

“Modgud. Skadi.” Kaleb called out, watching the two ice spirits appear and they looked around letting out low whistles, “if you would, put the fire out.”

 

The two females stood there before Modgud held out her hands, power swirling at her fingertips as Skadi let out a whistle that cut loudly through the air. The more blue of the pair slowly walking and letting the ice curl from each step she took. Skai however, held a hand up and as Lily looked up, her eyes went wide as she saw magic glowing in the air and then countless arrows rained down as the woman’s finger went from pointing straight up to arching in front of her. 

 

The Holy warrior looked around. While Bosco was temperate and generally warm, the ice and snow that now took over the area reminded her more of Iceberg, “...holy flame…”

 

Both spirits took a deep breath as they stood there, they exchanged a look and nodded before Modgud was swirling away in magic. Skadi looked at Kaleb, “we will need time to recover from this expenditure...about three months and that is unfortunate, but…” The huntress waved a hand, “it is what it is.”

 

Kaleb gave a nod as he looked around, “Understood. I’ll tell Hestor when he wakes up…and we really need to talk to someone about this happening to him.”

 

Skadi smirked, “fine, you go toe to toe with a goddess, see how that works, mate of my hunter.” She winked before she was gone, leaving a confused Kaleb.

 

Kaleb took a deep breath and shook his head, “...we need to get back.”

 

_ “Is everything alright?” _ Zen’s voice cut through their family link, worry in the tone,  _ “The gate literally just...imploded.” _

 

_ “It’s fine. We’re on our way back.” _ Kaleb replied and then lifted into the air, lips drawn in a thin line. He wasn’t sure what the spirit meant, but he was damn well not happy with the fact that the man he was carrying was out cold with his mind in what Kaleb would equate to a ‘power save’ mode of existence, this happened with The Hall as well, and the blond man wondered how many of the man’s keys actually did this to him.

  
  


~)~)~)~)

 

Cris scowled at Kaleb as he landed and moved to take the Celestial mage, “this really needs to stop.”

 

“I know,” Kaleb growled, “Do you think I don’t know that?”

 

Lucy took a breath, “enough. Both of you.” She gave them both firm looks, “let’s get him into a place he can rest and get ready for...the march.” she bit her lower lip as she looked nervous. “We won’t leave him behind, but…”

 

Zen smiled softly and kissed the top of Lucy’s head, “She’s right, we all knew this was a possibility when it came to Hestor.” he gave his brothers a firm look, “this isn’t over exhausting himself...this is something he can’t help.” he arched an eyebrow at Kaleb, “and I know..it’s new, it’s raw...but we don’t have time, Kaleb.”

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb hadn’t wanted to take to the sky, but knowing his team was keeping Hestor with them on the march made it a bit easier on him. He could trust the group with the man.  He just truly worried, unsure how long it would take the man to recover from this. He could feel the hum of Hestor’s mind, knowing he was fine, just magically exhausted.

 

He was also a bit more assured with Fenrir stalking along with the group. He knew Beck was wary about the large wolf spirit, but Fenrir did seem to...be less likely to attack the beastmaster. It was one hour into what was coming out to be a two and a half hour march that he felt Hestor waking up and banked.

 

_ “Kaleb?” _ Zen called at the movement through their family link.

 

Kaleb grinned over his shoulder,  _ “He woke up, I’m going to check on him.” _ _ _

Zen gave a nod before taking a breath and going back to making sure that the mages marching wouldn’t be caught by anything that may have come through the air.

 

When Kaleb got close to the group that had Hestor in it, he arched an eyebrow at the man stretching and had to flinch at the series of cracks from his joints. He landed as he felt Hestor lightly drawing at his magic and smiled as he shook his head, “honestly.”

  
  
One Steel blue eye opened as the man carefully got out of the moving cart by using Fenrir as a ‘step ladder’ and then shrugged. Hestor wasn’t sorry for anything he’d ever done. Maybe. He was still possibly a little sorry about a few things when he was younger, but that was well into the past.  “I’m fine, Kaleb, really,” Hestor spoke softly as they walked, the man brushing back his bangs, “it’s...probably going to just be that way any time I do anything of that scale. It wasn’t bad moving three people, but...I just moved an army.” 

 

Kaleb let out a low hum and nodded, eyes looking ahead of them. He shook his head, “well, we’ll do our best to keep that at a minimum.”

 

The Celestial mage let out a responding hum and then gently let his fingers curl out, hooking a few of them with the mindbender’s, “I’ll make that call if it needs to be made.”

 

“Not in the middle of a bat-”

 

“Kaleb,” Hestor’s voice was firm as he looked at the other from the corner of his eye, “If it’s  **needed** i will do it. We’ve both been in wars, we both know how this works. Trust me. I trust in you. Others are looking towards all three of you.”

 

“We couldn’t do this without you and Lucy,” Kaleb looked down at Hestor, rolling his eyes at the semi-smug look on the man’s face.

 

“I know,” Hestor looked up at Kaleb and then tugged on their joined fingers, “mostly me, because none of us would have gotten back otherwise.”


	8. Ragnarok Cometh

When the large group of mages got close to the border, they could hear the rumble of the mass of creatures as it slowly stood in a wave and faced them. Hestor felt fear slowly curl down his spine and then looked up at Kaleb as the man squeezed his hand. He gave the other a small nod and then leaned up, kissing Kaleb for a moment, “go on, we’ll be right behind you three...or rather...we will when you get there.”

 

“Be careful,” Kaleb gently cupped Hestor’s face, letting his thumb slowly curl across the other man’s cheek.

 

A silver brow slowly arched, “This is me.”

 

“I know. Promise me,” Kaleb smirked down at the other man.

 

Steely blue eyes rolled and he snorted, “I Promise to be as careful as battlefield conditions allow.”

 

Kaleb gave the other an amused smile and nodded before gently kissing Hestor again, “I’ll see you soon.”

 

He turned and looked at Zen and Farron, waiting for them to finish talking with Lucy and Lily.

  
  


~)~)~)~))~

  
  


Zen looked down at Lucy, giving a small smile, “Just listen to Hestor and Lily, they both have battle experience in this sort of thing.”

 

Lucy bit her lip and then nodded, “Okay.” She curled her arms around his neck and tugged him down, “i’m going to miss you.”

 

“I won’t be too far and we’re going to finish this today,” both off Zen’s hands rested in Lucy’s hair as he held her face gently, “Then...we’ll work more on us.”

 

Lucy gave a small, if warm and bright smile before pulling herself up to kiss Zen, letting the love she could feel flow through their bond. She let out a soft whine as he pulled away.

 

“Promise me you’ll listen to them,” Zen gave her a firm look, still holding her face gently.

 

The blonde nodded, “promise.”

  
  


“I’ll see you soon.”

 

Lucy watched the archangel let his dark wings out and took a deep breath as she stood there, hands fisted at her collarbone.

 

~)~))~)~)

 

Lily arched an eyebrow as she looked at Farron, “I will be fine, the baby will be fine. We do not have plans on sticking around too long.”

 

Farron chuckled a bit as he kissed her, “That is true...I still worry.”

 

The woman’s lips quirked into a smirk as she sunk her nails into the man’s ass, purring at the groan from him, “worry all you want. When we finish this?” She tilted her head, “we’re going to be celebrating.  _ Vigorously _ .” 

 

Farron grinned into Lily’s lips and murmured, “keep yourself safe, keep Lucy safe..pretty sure Hes can keep himself safe.”

 

Lily nodded as she pulled back, letting her hand rest against his cheek, “we will make sure she is safe and come to you when the time is right.” she turned to stride towards the two Celestial mages, wagging her brows at them before he hand went out just as Farron started to lift off the ground and a resounding ‘crack’ of a hand on an ass filled the air...which brought cheers from quite a few people.

 

Hestor chuckled softly and watched Kaleb take off, taking a deep breath as he stood there, “alright. This is it.”

 

Lucy grinned and shrugged, “I’m supposed to listen to you two.”

 

Hestor turned and looked to the mages, holding a fisted hand up, “For Earthland!” A cheer went up through the crowd and the Celestial mage took a deep breath as his head turned up, watching the three archangels as they flew. This was it. There was nothing else they could do but fight to survive...fight...fight against the coming Ragnarok that Surtr was trying to bring. “Everyone! To your units!”

 

Calls went out and Hestor watched the mages move and shift, all of them getting ready for what was to come, but his eyes trailed to the sky, noting that the three archangels were being left alone for the moment and he had to be glad. It seemed that Surtr’s army didn’t care about them...yet. He supposed it was a good thing, it gave them time to actually be able to take down and rout as many of them as possible.

 

The Three of them were not officially part of any of the teams as they would be going to their mates as soon as they were needed, but they did hang back with what was, essentially Kaleb’s team at White Sea. He looked around for a moment and frowned, “...where is Gaza?”

 

Beck coughed slightly “...she’s indisposed.”

 

“How is our fire mage indisposed?!” Hestor snarled, he knew it wasn’t Beck’s fault, but the woman would be helpful once the creatures started throwing fire.

 

“Xavier.”

 

Hestor blinked owlishly for a moment, “what?”

 

“...They disappeared with uh...his ice spirit...about ten minutes ago…”

 

Hestor rubbed the bridge of his nose and mumbled, “only one reason for that…”

 

Lucy let out a squeal, “aww! He’s found-”

 

“He has,” Hestor cut her off, giving her a look and the two both shrugged after a moment. The man was strangely calm and relaxed about most things...so the fact that he never showed any sort of inclination towards anyone...and his spirits normally didn’t get involved in the least bit? It was a huge tell for the two as to what was going on.

 

“I guess he’ll...always have someone to make sure the house is steamy?” Lucy grinned broadly.

 

Lily arched an eyebrow, “well, I heard Gaza was good at heating things up….”

 

Hestor looked at them as both women looked at him expectantly and he shrugged, “well, we know he’ll get taught how to fire her up?”

 

Lucy snorted in humor, “okay, we’re done.”

 

Beck arched an eyebrow, “you three sure?”

 

Hestor waved a hand and grinned, “we’re sure. Just keep an eye out for him, so he doesn’t end up falling on his ass.”

 

~)~)~))~)~)~

 

Hestor let out a yell, the starbringer armor curling around him and he was grabbing Lucy out of the way and jumping back as fire slammed where the blonde had been. He’d been afraid of her freezing up and she was just more than a little scared. He snarled, “Now would be a REALLY fucking good time for Gaza to be here!”

 

Lucy let out a whimper, clinging to Hestor and the man huffed, “down. Now.”   
  
The blonde swallowed but slowly let go of him, looking around, “I don’t like this…”

 

“Neither do I, but this is a war for our home,” Hestor leveled her with a look, “Put on your big girl panties, pull out your star dresses and let’s go.”

 

Lucy licked her lips, seeing the firm look on Hestor’s face before she gave a nod. The woman let out a shriek as a body went flying past them and her eyes turned as she stared at the rock creature. She pitched forward a bit and then looked up, rubbing her head and saw the glare in those eyes before she gave a firm nod and closed her eyes, “Stardress. Aquarius!”

 

“Good,” Hestor didn’t say anything else as he dove forward, eyes flashing in anger as he brought a sword around with both hands, putting all his weight behind it as it slammed it into one rock arm. He crouched as he felt the first small streams of water and then listened to the water rush over his head, grinning as he saw white fire curling around it to add a bit more punch to the attack. 

 

The three stayed close to the front line, helping where they could until they were pulled by their mates.

 

~)~)~)~)

 

The massive creature seemingly made of Lava looked down at the three men flying towards him, “So..Earthland has Male Valkyrie, interesting…still no match for me.”

 

Zen slowly quirked an eyebrow, “archangels.”

 

“So the heavens send their fighters?” The creature seemed to Sneer, “so be it. I shall remind the heavens of who I am.”

 

The giant’s sword arched through the air and the three scattered, weapons out and shining before they all came in at different angles. 

 

_ “What is the plan?” _

 

Zen pursed his lips as he struck, watching as nothing but Lava spewed from the attack,  _ “Try to find a weakness, then bring them here.” _

 

Farron dove to avoid the massive sword,  _ “can we wait that long?” _

 

_ “We need to, Lucy is panicking, we bring here here...she’ll be a sitting duck,” _ Zen grimaced as he drug his glaive along what he thought would be Surtr’s spine, but again, the same thing: lava splashing out of the wound,  _ “...and if he’s filled with lava...we’re going to have one hell of an issue...because...we don’t have any ice spirits that can be used...do we?” _

 

_ “No, Skadi and Modgud both need three months to recharge.” _ Kaleb made a face, _ ”i’m unsure if he has any water spirits that can attack...I only know about Delphinus.” _

 

_ “Shit.” _

  
  


_ ~)~)~)~)~) _

 

Hestor scowled as the fire around them suddenly blew back and looked over his shoulder, “well about fucking time.”

 

Gaza grinned broadly, “Sorry, I got proposed to...Iceberg proposals are so damn romantic. All about getting a person revved up and warmed up!”

 

“Well you’re going to be all revved up with no place to go if we don’t deal with this shit!” Hestor snarled as he spun, deflecting an arm.

 

Gaza laughed as she pushed her hands forward, fire spewing past everyone in the area “yeah, well, let’s get this party started, yeah?! Time to light it up.”

 

Hestor scowled, “that’s it, we’re out!”

 

Beck laughed and shook his head, “You sure they need you?”

 

Hestor snorted, “you’ve got Gaza now and…” cold air swirled past them, “Xavier. You’ll be good. Lucy, Lily! Let’s go!”  Hestor grinned,  _ “incoming, get to the ground please. Or close, so you can drop us off and get back to your fight.” _

 

The three gave quick salutes before they were swirling away in holy magic, drawing themselves to their mates. They slowly looked up and up before Hestor licked his lips, “...well shit...he’s big.”

 

Lucy let out a small squeak, swallowing, “...b...big. Really big.”

 

Lily let out a low snarl, “you!”

 

Surtr smirked as the mages spoke, head tilting down to look at the three, the large being of fire looking almost gleeful as the archangels swung at him. Glowing eyes, however, turned to the redhead on the ground, “good, you’ve brought the Eternal Flame. Time to Die.” The massive sword was raised and came over the being’s head in an arch that, even if it didn’t hit the three directly, it was going to cause the ground to erupt.

  
  



	9. ....So the Stars Fall

“What?!” Farron’s eyes went wide and he made a dive for Lily, both letting out screams as a blade cut them in half as Farron Landed next to her. Fire curled up from the two and to the Fire Giant, seeming to make him grow in size as he let out a dark laugh of triumph.

 

Lucy let out a scream, eyes wide as she stumbled backwards, falling to the ground and shaking her head. Her panic almost palpable in the air as she kept moving back, looking between the couple and then the huge creature. She let out a whimper of fear but before she could think to drag Zen to her side, the ground under her erupted, a stream of lava the size of her mate’s arm piercing her torso and burning it away.

 

Zen seemed to snap then, letting out a wrath filled scream of pain as he dove towards the large creature, only thoughts of killing it in his head.

 

The Lava changed directions and Hestor let out a yell as it came at him, eyes flickering before he was disappearing and reappearing several feet away,  _ “Do NOT come here, Kaleb!” _

 

_ “Are you insane?! I just got you ba-” _

 

_ “You have a Fire Giant to deal with!” _ Again, he seemed to shimmer in and out of reality again just before the streamer of lava hit him,  _ “trust me. I trust you.” _

 

Kaleb swallowed throwing himself into the fight with Zen. They’d been told they needed three, but when Lily had been killed...with Farron Killed...He had to focus and trust in Hestor, in his mate.

 

Hestor was flitting around the battlefield using Yggdrasil to stay just out of the way. When he felt pain lance through his left shoulder, it was all he could do to not cry out in pain, but the mental scream was there.  _ “DON’T.” _ It was a firm command to Kaleb as the Celestial mage lay on the ground, his left arm completely gone as he shuddered. He could see the lava starting to come at him and took a breath before focusing his magic, praying and shoving everything he had magic wise through his bond with Kaleb, hoping that it would be enough to turn the tide.  _ “I love you. Always. Forever.” _

 

Those words came with the power surge and Kaleb felt his heart break as the bond shattered and he dove into his anguish. This creature had killed Hestor and, Like Zen, he would make sure the thing would pay. 

 

The two archangels fought tooth and nail before large hands slammed them onto the ground as they exhausted their magic. Surtr smirked, “I win. Ragnarok shall begin on Earthland.”

 

Fire then blazed around and the two could hear the screams of pain and almost feel the death in the air as their own chests were burned, both letting out wordless screams as lava bubbled beneath them.

 

~)~)~))~)~

  
  
  


Zen started straight up in his bed, eyes flying wide as he panted. The young man sat there, gasping as he tried to wrap his mind around the strange nightmare he’d had...again. His hand came up and he slowly looked at how bad it was shaking before he ran it through his hair. 

 

He’d heard of the old Tale of Creation. How a group of Heros strove to keep Ragnarok away when the gods had decided that the planet possibly needed to start over. It was an epic and tragic story, how three sets of lovers were supposed to be the saviors of the planet….but they’d not had the time to prepare and that had cost them.

 

He looked at his clock and sighed, running a hand down his face as he moved to climb from the bed. Zen could probably get more sleep, but he wasn’t sure an hour and a half would be worth it. He mulled over the dream, the story hadn’t said anything about archangels...and the fact that two of them looked like his brothers bothered him….and that others looked like people he had met.

 

He slowly got out of his bed and double checked his bags. Another Year at Hogwarts, another Year of dealing with over-inflated Egos from Dragon Slayers and barely keeping his temper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Hogwart's is Mentioned.
> 
> Now there is another chapter...so don't worry too much...


	10. Rising Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now that i've...pulled at heartstrings...
> 
> I wrote two endings for Starfall. The Bad Ending...which was the last chapter, which I'm going to actually use as a lead in for a new story "Fairymore" that's...semi Harry Potter world inspired...
> 
> Then you have this...which is the more positive ending...even though it starts out the same.

  
  


“What?!” Farron’s eyes went wide and he made a dive for Lily, both letting out screams as a blade cut them in half as Farron Landed next to her. Fire curled up from the two and to the Fire Giant, seeming to make him grow in size as he let out a dark laugh of triumph.

 

Lucy let out a scream, eyes wide as she stumbled backwards, falling to the ground and shaking her head. Her panic almost palpable in the air as she kept moving back, looking between the couple and then the huge creature. She let out a whimper of fear but before she could think to drag Zen to her side, the ground under her erupted, a stream of lava the size of her mate’s arm piercing her torso and burning it away.

 

Zen seemed to snap then, letting out a wrath filled scream of pain as he dove towards the large creature, only thoughts of killing it in his head.

 

The Lava changed directions and Hestor let out a yell as it came at him, eyes flickering before he was disappearing and reappearing several feet away,  _ “Do NOT come here, Kaleb!” _

 

_ “Are you insane?! I just got you ba-” _

 

_ “You have a Fire Giant to deal with!” _ Again, he seemed to shimmer in and out of reality again just before the streamer of lava hit him,  _ “trust me. I trust you.” _

 

Kaleb swallowed throwing himself into the fight with Zen. They’d been told they needed three, but when Lily had been killed...with Farron Killed...He had to focus and trust in Hestor, in his mate.

 

Hestor was flitting around the battlefield using Yggdrasil to stay just out of the way. When he felt pain lance through his left shoulder, it was all he could do to not cry out in pain, but the mental scream was there.  _ “DON’T.” _ It was a firm command to Kaleb as the Celestial mage lay on the ground, his left arm completely gone as he shuddered. He could see the lava starting to come at him and took a breath before focusing his magic, praying and shoving everything he had magic wise through his bond with Kaleb, hoping that it would be enough to turn the tide.  _ “I love you. Always. Forever.” _

 

Those words came with the power surge and Kaleb felt his heart break as the bond shattered and he dove into his anguish. This creature had killed Hestor and, Like Zen, he would make sure the thing would pay. 

 

The two archangels fought tooth and nail before large hands slammed them onto the ground as they exhausted their magic. Surtr smirked, “I win. Ragnarok shall begin on Earthland.”

 

Fire then blazed around and the two could hear the screams of pain and almost feel the death in the air as their own chests were burned, both letting out wordless screams as lava bubbled beneath them.

 

Surtr let out a loud booming laugh of delight, before everything shimmered around him. His eyes narrowed and he let out a growl as the six mages appeared unscathed then they landed on the figure with them, “loki.”

 

The silver haired mage was completely still, magic curling off him as the platinum blond archangel stood behind him, sword out defensively.

 

Loki smirked, bowing his head, “Surtr. It’s been awhile.” He bowed a bit, “always nice to play with you. There’s one thing you do tend to forget though: everything around you when you’re far too focused.”

 

“What are you doing here, Trickster?” The Fire Giant snarled and the sword came around.

 

Lucy held up her hands “Scotum!” she let out a yell at the impact, taking deep breaths as the shield over the group held. “I’m fine...I’m fine…” She smiled though when she felt Zen’s hands on her shoulders. She mumbled, “That...whole scene being a lot  **less real** would have been nice though.”

 

Loki snorted, “all or nothing. Those are the rules of the illusion Magic.”

 

Hestor let out a sharp breath as his eyes focused and then he took a deep breath, “well that was fun…”

 

Loki shrugged slightly before he turned, “Good Luck. let’s hope you don’t need it.”

 

Hestor watched the spirit curl away in a sparkle of stardust and shook his head, “I swear…” He kissed Kaleb’s jaw, feeling how tense he was and nuzzled him gently,  _ “it’s alright, it was all an illusion.” _

 

_ “...does not make it any less frightening.” _

 

_ “You’re not losing me.” _ Hestor brought a hand up, making the mindbender look at him and he gave the other a small, reassuring smile, “now...go kick his ass, hmm?”

 

Kaleb went to say something, then his eyes blazed as he felt magic pouring into him, strengthening him. Hestor smirked, “Go.”

 

All three Archangels felt power curling through them as their mates stood apart, they watched as lines started to form, first simple circles around the three that lead to lines connecting them. Then the pattern started to change. They saw the symbol of Scotum in front of Lucy and the three of them seemed to be lost into focusing what they were doing. The Dome of the protective shield shimmered over the three.

 

“Hestor?” Kaleb eyed the dome as he stood there, “what’s going on?”

 

“Lucy will keep us safe,” Lily spoke and smiled softly, “I will provide the raw power…”

 

Hestor let out a low growl as his eyes lit up and two roars filled the air, water seeming to come out of nowhere, swirling around the dome and covering it. The Symbol of Aquarius lit up on the surface.  _ “We’re fine, we’ve got enough defenses...now...go knock that fucker on his ass. Time to level the playing field.” _

 

As The three took to the sky again, they watched as water seemed to bubble up, creating pockets of steamy water before geyers started to form. From the sky they could see the massive magical circle that had the dome where the three were encased as the center. The dome blazed with magic from within and the water continued to rise as the roars filled the air again and the three could see something huge  **in** the water. Two...very large somethings that were curling beneath the water that...shouldn’t have been deep enough to conceal them.

 

The three banked away as two massive serpent like creatures came up out of the water, strangely enough going for one another right around Surtr. The Fire Giant let out a roar as he engaged to keep the two away from him. The three massive beings fighting as more water than should be there shot up into the sky.

 

_ “What in the…” _ Zen’s eyes went a bit wide at the sudden chaos, banking sharply out of the way of a pillar of water.

 

_ “No clue…” _

 

Farron wheeled out of the way as water bubbled beneath him, barely dodging the pillar that shot up,  _ “I’d wager something Hestor picked up in their two years.” _

 

_ “If you  three are done,” _ Came the snarky tone in their heads,  _ “please do find a way to take him down while he’s distracted.” _

 

_ “It would help,” _ Zen shot back,  _ “if we could get  _ **_close_ ** _.” _

 

A few mocking sounds came through the link Kaleb had set up between the six and the three archangels could feel the humor from Lily and Lucy, even as the three funneled magic into the archangels bolstering them. 

 

_ “Alright, we’ve tried attacking his body, everything…” _

 

_ “Not everything…” _ Kaleb eyed the massive horned crown and the three brothers grinned at one another before they were banking and wheeling through the air.

 

_ “Landing on him is not going to be an option,” _ Farron said as they wove through the water that was seemingly randomly coming up into the air. In a way, it not only distracted Surtr, but it gave them cover, hiding them among the sprays of water.

 

All three archangels dove towards the strange crown, then found that even diving and trying to rip it off was not working. They couldn’t get enough leverage and their own magical attacks and weapons weren’t working. It also didn’t help that they were trying to do it while avoiding a massive fight between three titanous beings.

 

_ “We don’t have enough power to knock it off!” _ Farron growled as they wheeled back, having found a place that no spouts seemed to come out of period.

 

_ “...what do mages that need an extra boost do?” _ Lucy chimed into the link.

 

All three archangels felt confused for a moment. The men were all very powerful in their own right, with mages at their sides that there was little or no issue on power to take down anything that got in their way as long as there was teamwork. They all scowled down at the amusement from their mates as they felt it.

 

_ “I can’t believe it...they’ve never?”  _ Lucy huffed,  _ “even I have…” _

 

_ “Well, they are fairly powerful...why would they have to look into it?” _ Lily’s voice seemed faintly amused.

 

Hestor’s voice was flat as they could feel the steely eyes rolling,  _ “of course not. Heaven forbid…” _

 

_ “I mean it is kinda...hard. You do need a lot of compatibility…”  _ Lucy mused, they cold almost see her tapping a finger on her lips.

 

Lily hummed, a curious sound,  _ “they’re all archangels...it shouldn’t be an issue…” _

 

_ “...would you three  _ **_please_ ** _ stop being Vague?” _ Zen growled as they all stared down at the glowing dome.

 

_ “...Unison Raid.”  _  It was three voices that ‘said’ it at the same time and the three furrowed their brows.

 

Lucy snorted,  _ “what do you think the three of us are doing right now? It’s  _ **_essentially_ ** _ a Unison Raid..”  _ Her mental voice seemed  **almost** as smug as Hestor’s normally did,  _ “c’mon guys...put your hearts and souls into it.” _

 

Kaleb arched an eyebrow,  _ “just a little sassy…but...It’s not exactly an ea-” _

 

_ “Yes, yes, people have spent their lives attempting to understand and accomplish Unison Raids,” _ Hestor snarked,  _ “you three better get your asses in line...you’ve got another two minutes of distraction.” _

 

_ “How do you ev-” _

 

Lucy snapped in their heads,  _ “you focus on a common goal. In this case, it was we wanted to support you three overpowered lugs so that we can start rebuilding Earthland...and start families. It’s all about intent. I’ve done it several times before now. It’s possible, so just...feel, let the magic do it’s thing.” _

 

_ “Now, all three off you hold hands and focus.” _ Lily said, though there was plenty of amusement in her voice.

 

“Ever get the feeling that...they’re all smartasses?” Zen sighed as he looked at the dome.

 

“We all know Hestor is,” Farron pointed out, “Lucy seemed like a sweet thing though.”

 

_ “You three aren’t ho-” _ Kaleb tired to point out that they weren’t holding hands, but there was the magical circle connecting them.

 

_ “Hold hands, Kaleb, stop arguing.” _ Hestor snapped through the link.

 

Zen and Farron both smirked at Kaleb before they felt their own mates essentially give off the feeling of ‘well, get to it.’ through the link.  All three rolled their eyes as they joined hands.

 

“Any fucking clue what we’re doing?” Zen arched an eyebrow.

 

Farron arched an eyebrow slowly, “all three of our mates are being smug and snarking at us, I think it’s...safe to say we’ve no clue what we are doing. The three of us have had  **no** reason to look into uniso-”

 

The three arched and they swore they heard Hestor hiss ‘About time’, before magic swelled around them. It almost felt to the three men like their mates were literally skirting across their minds and pulling at their magic...and they were on the outside looking in. The three couldn’t understand the words that their own mouths were chanting, but it was the same words that were being ghosted across their minds by the encapsulated mages below them.

 

They felt the power surge in them before they were moving, the chanting still going on as each held out their left hand, the magic curling in front of them before streaming towards the three creatures...just as the two serpents disappeared. Kaleb felt a bit of worry before the three beams of angelic magic started to swirl around one another, getting denser before hitting Surtr in the chest, blowing him back and it seemed to break apart, the lines of magic curling around the Fire Giant. 

 

It seemed to double back as the massive being swung at the lines, going through it...before an arm fell...then the other...then the legs and a roar rocked the area before the beams seemed to curl together again and slam up through the Fire Giant from the base of his skull. The Crown shattered and the three hovered there as the water fully receded and the Giant slowly turned into ash, flowing away on a breeze. The land around cooled and they turned in the air as they heard cheers, seeing the ‘army’ Surtr had brought meeting the same fate as the Giant himself.

 

“So…” Zen said, looking at his brothers are they slowly landed, the power leaving them, but none of the three feeling weak.

 

“That was a Unison Raid…” Farron said, all eyes going to the dome that was slowly shimmering out of existence.

 

Lucy let out a cheer as she jumped up and then fell flat on her face as Hestor side stepped her, “ow! That was supposed to be a victory hug!”

 

“No touchy,” Hestor huffed before he turned and breezed towards the three, “Congratulations...now you three get to hone that.”

 

Lily purred as she stalked towards Farron, “They can start in two days…”

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow, “Three. I have plans.”

 

Lucy mumbled darkly as she got up and brushed herself off, “anti-social prick.”

 

Hestor purred as he curled up against Kaleb, “not denying it.” 

 

~)~)~)~))~

 

The Massive party that came didn’t end in three days like Hestor had predicted, in fact, it was a week later that people were starting to come down from the high of Earth Land being saved. Hestor was sitting with Lucy, Yukino and Xavier, the four letting out low hums as they looked over plans.

 

“So...things are stablizing. Iceberg’s going back to normal…” Lucy said, lips pursed, “but...Peregrande and Bellum have been wiped out…”

 

“Reports show Joya as well,” Yukino said as she put a tray of coffee down, “all of the other countries are recovering. There’s talks that we’ll have a large scale meeting with all the leaders of Ishgar, including the tribal leaders from Iceberg, find out what to do with restored lands...but not people.”

 

“Anyone hear anything about Desierto?” Hestor said as he grabbed his mug and sipped his coffee, leaning back.

 

“None,” Yukino said, “but we’re sending scouts out.” She took a breath, “i’m also retiring from active mage duty.”

 

Lucy frowned, “what?! Why?!”

 

The white haired woman smiled, “one, I don’t have a lot of keys any more...two...Sting and Rogue...asked me to surrogate for them...and it’s probably safer if I don’t do the active guildmage thing.” she shrugged, “I will be fine.”

 

“Gaza and I will be going back to my tribe after the Summit,” Xavier said, a small smirk on his lips.

 

“Yeah about that…” Lucy grinned at him, “how long did you know?!”

 

The Chestnut haired man just gave a small, secretive smile and a shrug as he sipped from his mug.

 

“Like we’re ever getting answers out of him,” Hestor snorted and sighed as he sat there, “so...right…” He stood and moved to the window, looking out and smiling at the three mages that were  **working** on learning to do a unison raid with one another, “we taking bets on how long it takes them?”

 

Lucy snorted, “nah, they’ll get it…”

 

“Just in time for the next threat,” Xavier’s eyes danced as he picked up a pastry and ate it.

 

The other three in the room groaned, knowing they’d get no answers from the Seer.

  
  



End file.
